Taiwan accuses China of conducting cyberattacks with drills

Taipei, Jan 7 Taiwan's National Security Bureau has accused Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of conducting military drills near the self-ruled island along with cyberattacks, sharing over 19,000 "controversial" messages and carrying out millions of hacking intrusions, local media reported on Wednesday.

In a report presented to the Legislative Yuan, the agency stated that online activity involved 799 abnormal accounts and focused on increasing skepticism regarding the US, Taiwan's President William Lai and military, referring to concerns about Taiwan's ability to defend itself, Taiwan's daily Taipei Times reported.

The bureau stated that the cyberintrusions targetting government networks intensified during the exercises, reaching around 2.08 million attacks on the first day of China's military exercises and further increased to about 2.09 million on the second day.

The legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defence Committee has asked the bureau, the Ministry of National Defence, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Coast Guard Administration to brief lawmakers on Thursday. The report about the drills and related security threats has been given to legislators before the committee session.

In its report, the agency stated that the CCP carried out drills to counter support that Taiwan receives from international democratic allies, divert attention from internal problems and showcase military strength as unaffected by anti-corruption efforts. The NSB stated that CCP used drills against Taiwan to redirect dissatisfaction of people towards nationalist sentiment portrayed as resistance to external interference, Taipei Times reported.

On December 31, 2025, Taiwan's Defence Ministry said that 207 Chinese military planes flew around the self-ruled island during the 48 hours, as Beijing conducted exercises, a move considered a warning against separatism.

Of the total planes that flew until 6 am on December 31, 125 had crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan's air defence identification zone, according to the ministry, Japan-based Kyodo News reported. Earlier, China and Taiwan respected the median line; however, Beijing has ignored it in recent years.

China considers Taiwan a breakaway region, which needs to be reunified with the mainland, by force if necessary. Despite China's efforts, Taiwan, backed by strong public support, continues to assert its sovereignty and responds to China's incursions.

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor