"China Attacked Taiwan" Warning Issued for Fake Accounts Impersonating Taiwanese Media

Detected Near Taiwan, Not in Taiwan's Airspace or Territorial Waters
"'Taiwan News 247' Has No Affiliation with Our Company"

A fake X (formerly Twitter) account impersonating Taiwan News posted false information claiming that "Chinese military aircraft and ships violated Taiwan's airspace and territorial waters." Taiwan News and the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense have stated that this is not true.

Boni Glaser, a Taiwan expert at the U.S. think tank German Marshall Fund (GMF), on the 14th (local time) captured and posted a screenshot of the impersonating account called 'Taiwan News247' (@Taiwan News247) claiming that "Chinese military aircraft and ships violated Taiwan's airspace and territorial waters," pointing out that this is not true. Glaser emphasized that the People's Liberation Army's aircraft and ships were detected not in Taiwan's airspace and territorial waters but in the 'surrounding' areas of Taiwan.

Taiwan Ministry of National Defense spokesperson Sun Li-fang holding a press conference in Taipei on the 15th.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Taiwan News cited Boni Glaser's post and urged readers to be cautious. The problematic impersonating account, created in 2016, has 1,300 followers, whereas the genuine Taiwan News account (@TaiwanNewsEN) has 105,100 followers. Taiwan News stressed that 'Taiwan News247' has no connection with their organization.

This fake news surfaced amid strong Chinese opposition to Vice President Lai Ching-te, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate for Taiwan's next presidential election, beginning his visit to Paraguay via the United States.

China expressed its position on Vice President Lai's transit through the U.S., stating it would "take resolute and strong measures."

The Taiwan Ministry of National Defense announced that from 6 a.m. on the 13th to 6 a.m. on the 14th, the Taiwanese military detected six PLA military aircraft and six warships in the airspace and waters surrounding Taiwan. Additionally, from 6 a.m. on the 14th to 6 a.m. on the 15th, 18 Chinese military aircraft and five warships were detected around Taiwan. Among these, five military aircraft violated the median line of the Taiwan Strait and Taiwan's Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).

In response, Sun Li-fang, spokesperson for the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense, explained at a press conference that they immediately scrambled fighter jets, activated air defense missile systems to track the aircraft, and dispatched naval vessels to track the positions of the PLA ships in the area.

However, spokesperson Sun stated, "Apart from the level of military demonstrations that the Chinese military conducts almost daily, there were no large-scale exercises or other unusual activities."

Vice President Lai arrived in Paraguay via New York and is scheduled to return to Taiwan on the 18th via San Francisco. Observers believe that China may escalate its military demonstrations toward Taiwan in line with Vice President Lai's return.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.