TAIWAN MONITORING: The drills are intended to undermine peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo said
By Ben Blanchard / Reuters, TAIPEI
China is carrying out “area denial” drills in the Western Pacific involving one of its aircraft carriers and other naval formations, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo （顧立雄） confirmed yesterday, following a reported rise in Chinese activities.
Last week, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu （吳釗燮） posted on his social media account details of the deployments of more than 100 Chinese naval and coast guard ships operating off Taiwan, in the South China Sea and into the Pacific.
The Ministry of National Defense last week also reported a large rise in the number of Chinese air force aircraft around Taiwan, although China has not officially declared any drills.
“China has indeed conducted area denial drills in the Western Pacific with the Liaoning [遼寧] carrier group and other naval training formations,” Koo told reporters at the Legislative Yuan.
Anti-access/area denial, or A2AD, refers to keeping an outside force from intervening in a conflict, which in the context of Taiwan means stopping US or other allied forces from coming to Taipei’s aid should Beijing attack.
The Chinese Ministry of National Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Chinese ministry said last month that the Liaoning carrier group’s training in the western Pacific was an annual routine to test long-range, open-ocean combat capabilities and was not directed at any particular country.
China’s drills come ahead of the APEC summit in Shenzhen, China, next week, where US President Donald Trump is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping （習近平） again, and Taiwan’s local elections at the end of this month.
Koo said the military was keeping a close watch on what China was up to.
“We believe that this kind of military deterrence is intended to undermine peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region,” he added. “We will use joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance means and exchange intelligence with allies to continuously monitor these activities and respond appropriately.”
Asked whether Chinese infiltration into Taiwan was expanding into the tech sector — particularly in light of the recent incident involving Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang （黃仁勳） — and whether this posed a risk of national defense research leaks, Koo said the ministry has protocols in place to protect sensitive information.
Under the Classified National Security Information Protection Act （國家機密保護法） and the Freedom of Government Information Law （政府資訊公開法）, the ministry can legally withhold classified defense research data if legislators request it, Koo said.
The ministry is also enhancing its counter-infiltration efforts and security clearances for all military personnel, he added.
Additional reporting by Lin Hsin-han
新聞來源：
TAIPEI TIMES