Recent reports disclose that on January 23 -- three days after Joe Biden's inauguration as the new US President -- Chinese military aircraft simulated missile attacks on a US aircraft carrier during an incursion into Taiwan’s air defence zone. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) sent 11 aircraft into the south-western corner of Taiwan’s air defence zone on January 23, and 15 aircraft into the same area the next day. People familiar with intelligence were quoted as saying that the bombers and some of the fighter aircraft involved were conducting an exercise that used the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group. One person familiar with the incident said the Chinese aircraft remained more than 250 nautical miles from the US carrier and accompanying warships at all times. Pilots of H-6 bombers could be heard in cockpit conversations confirming orders for the simulated targeting and release of anti-ship missiles against the carrier. The US Indo-Pacific Command, which oversees military operations in Asia, said the USS Theodore Roosevelt strike group had closely monitored the Chinese manoeuvres which “at no time” posed a threat to the US ships. Captain Mike Kafka, spokesperson for Indo-Pacific Command said “However, the PLA activities highlighted here, are the latest in a string of aggressive and destabilising actions. These actions reflect a continued PLA attempt to use its military as a tool to intimidate or coerce those operating in international waters and airspace, to include their neighbours and those with competing territorial claims.” Su Tzu-yun, an analyst at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a think-tank backed by Taiwan’s defence ministry, commented: “The Su-30 [fighters] can carry Kh-31 anti-ship missiles, and the H-6 bombers and J-16 fighters can both carry YJ anti-ship missiles.”