Canberra: China's bullying tactic is not limiting to its immediate neighbours. Now Australia has also come under Chinese cyber attack. Australian PM Scott Morrison said his government and some private sector entities in the country had been under a sustained cyber attack by a Chinese actor. Morrison said as per cyber experts, Australian organisations are currently being targeted by a China-based cyber actor, Australian defence minister said malicious cyber activity was “increasing in frequency, scale, sophistication and impact”.
Recently, Vietnam’s foreign ministry said two Chinese ships had attacked a Vietnamese fishing boat in the South China Sea and seized its catch and equipment. The incident happened near the Parcel Islands which China claims as its territory. In April, Vietnam had protested after a fishing boat sunk by a Chinese maritime surveillance vessel near the islands.
Japan also said that Chinese vessels are parked near the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea for 66 days running to intimidate Tokyo. Indonesia also has been facing similar Chinese bullying.
A spokesman for the Japan 11th Regional Coast Guard headquarters said that four Chinese coast guard vessels appeared about 18 miles northwest of Uotsuri Island inside Japan’s contiguous zone, and heading southwest. Chinese vessels have been spotted in Japan’s contiguous waters every day since April 14.
Chinese and Malaysian vessels had been in a stand-off state near the island of Borneo in South China Sea for weeks earlier this year after a Malaysian-authorised drill ship was prospecting for resources in the area. They were intercepted by Chinese survey ships and coast guard vessels, according to the Asia Maritime Transparency Institute (AMTI). Malaysia had to deploy naval vessels in the area, buttressed later by US ships.
The Indonesian foreign minister wrote a diplomatic note to the UN on May 26, reiterating Indonesia’s objections against China to the “so-called nine-dash line or so-called historic rights”. “In that diplomatic note, Indonesia also called for full compliance towards UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) 1982,” the foreign minister said, laying Indonesia’s claim, particularly on Natuna Islands which has been claimed by China.
News reports said Taiwan scrambled its aircraft again to warn off Chinese air force aircraft that approached the island, the fourth such encounter in nine days, Taiwan’s military said. Chinese J-10 fighter and Y-8, a propeller aircraft often used for surveillance missions, entered Taiwan’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ), according to Taiwan’s air force spokesperson.
