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The President's Daily Brief
PDB Afternoon Bulletin | January 22nd, 2026: Israel Braces for Iranian Strike & China Penetrates Taiwan’s Armed Forces
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It's Thursday, the 22nd of January. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, Israel raises readiness across its military operating under the assumption that that Iran may strike at any time. The IDF and Israeli government are preparing for multiple scenarios. I'll have the details later in the show. China ramps up covert operations against Taiwan with new reporting revealing just how compromised the island's military may be. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. Today, as Israel braces for a possible Iranian strike, the country's military is mobilizing for action. Israeli defense officials now say they are operating under the assumption that Iran may attempt an attack, and the country's military posture reflects that expectation. Across Israel, readiness levels have been raised, forces repositioned and commanders are openly signaling that the country is prepared for multiple scenarios, both defensive and offensive. At the center of those preparations is the Israel Defense Forces, the idf, which says it's ready to act against any threat on any front. Chief of Staff Ail Zamir has been touring key installations, reinforcing the message that Israeli forces are not merely on standby but actively positioned for action. During recent visits to air bases and home front defense commands, Zamir stressed that the military is prepared to respond quickly and decisively. If Israel comes under attack, the clearest signal of readiness may be coming from the skies. The the Israeli Air Force says it's operating at a heightened state of alert. Air Force Commander Tomer Barr told personnel that the force is prepared, alert and ready for any scenario. That readiness includes layered missile defenses, constant aerial patrols, and long range strike capabilities designed to reach adversaries well beyond Israel's borders. Israel has also been reinforcing its most advanced capabilities. Earlier this month, the Israeli Air Force took delivery of three additional F35i ADIR stealth fighters from Lockheed Martin, bringing their fleet to 48 aircraft. These fifth generation jets are Israel's most advanced combat aircraft, designed to slip past sophisticated air defenses, gather intelligence and strike high value targets deep inside Hostile territory. The fighters are a cornerstone of Israel's deterrence posture, signaling that any attack on the Jewish state would carry significant retaliatory consequences. Those same aircraft played a decisive role during the 12 day war. The F35s helped Israel operate inside contested airspace, track threats, and feed real time intelligence across the military. They helped make Israel's broader air and missile defense network work as a single coordinated system. Now the Israeli preparations are taking place alongside a growing American military presence in the region. As we've been tracking here at the pdb, US Assets continue to flow into the Middle east with additional air and naval forces moving into position. And as we reported yesterday, White House officials have also signaled that they are weighing decisive options of their own against Iran. In addition to the IDF's actions, Israel's home front command, the agency responsible for civilian defense, has also been placed on heightened readiness. Israeli planners are operating under the assumption that that any Iranian response could resemble past exchanges, relying heavily on missile and drone barrages aimed at Israeli territory rather than a single decisive strike. As a result, emergency response units, early warning systems, and civil defense infrastructure are being tested and drilled, with a clear focus on protecting population centers and maintaining continuity under sustained fire. For Israelis, that means shelters, warning sirens, and emergency protocols becoming part of daily life once again. Taken together, the message from Israel's leadership is deliberate. By publicly signaling readiness across air, ground, and civilian defense domains, Israel is looking to deter an attack while ensuring that it can respond immediately if the deterrence fails. For now, Israel's strategy is clear. Stay ready, stay visible, and make sure that if Iran chooses to act, it understands the heavy price that the mullahs and the Revolutionary Guard Corps would pay. All right, coming up next, Beijing intensifies its shadow war against Taiwan as Chinese intelligence operations penetrate the island's armed forces. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here. 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When you use code PDB at checkout, just head on over to BruntWorkware.com use the code PDB and you're good to go. And after you order, they'll ask you where you heard about Brunt. Tell them the PDB sent you. Mike Baker here. Well, it is officially 2026, right? And I guess I'm like a lot of people. I did make some New Year's resolutions and I think one of the most important ones I made was to get better sleep every night, right? That's super important because sleep is basically the foundation for the rest of your day. With a good night's rest, you have more energy, you handle stress better, and you think more clearly. It's a very good resolution to make and to help make it a reality when. Well, I turned to CBD products from CB Distillery. Their sleep gummies with a combination of CBD and melatonin really do the trick. Seriously, you'll wake up refreshed and ready to take on whatever the day brings. Look, over 90% of CBD customers say they sleep better with CBD. And CB Distillery has options for more than just sleep, right? They've got solutions for stress, for moods, and for pain after workouts. Everything from CB Distillery is premium quality, third party, tested and and free of artificial dyes or fillers. They've got over 2 million happy customers. Think about that. 2 million happy customers and a 100% money back guarantee. So if you're ready to start the year off right, go on over to cbdistillery.com and use code PDB for 25% off. It's that simple. That's CB distillery.com code PDB cbdistillery.com Specific product availability depends on individual state regulations. Welcome back to the Afternoon Bulletin. A new report details how Chinese espionage networks quietly embed themselves inside Taiwan's military, reaching all the way into the unit guarding the presidential office. The reporting by the Wall Street Journal shows how the Chinese intelligence apparatus methodically goes through the recruitment cycle, identifying, assessing, targeting, developing and eventually recruiting individuals of interest. The Journal report highlights the case of Taiwanese Sergeant Lai Chung Yu. Now he served as a military police sergeant assigned to guard the offices of Taiwan's president and senior officials, a position that gave him rare proximity to the island's top leadership and an intimate understanding of how security functioned day to day. According to prosecutors, Light knew the layouts, guard rotations, and protective procedures surrounding Taiwan's leadership. The kind of information that you don't necessarily obtain through satellite imagery or cyber operations. That type of intel is best obtained through human sources. And lie wasn't coerced through some extensive ideology or coercion campaign. He was in debt, and he went online looking for a loan instead of a lender. Prosecutors say he found a Chinese intelligence operative offering quick cash in exchange. All I had to do was to photograph sensitive security details. Oh, is that all? Now, on their own, the images are just fragments, but collected over time, they begin to form a much larger operational picture. And authorities say that Lai wasn't acting alone. The Chinese regime's intel services are persistent, they're pervasive, and they're patient. Notice how I used words that all begin with the letter P? The PDB is very big on alliteration anyway. Prosecutors describe him as part of a broader, ongoing Chinese espionage network that works to penetrate Taiwan's military and political institutions, funneling intelligence back to Beijing. And of course, Beijing isn't just collecting information for curiosity's sake. As China continues to threaten the use of force to seize the self governed island that it claims as its own, authorities fear agents already embedded inside Taiwan could play a decisive role in any future military operation. Since March, Taiwanese president Lai Ching Duke launched a campaign aimed at rooting out Chinese espionage and political influence. What that campaign has exposed so far is a pattern that Taiwan finds particularly unsettling. Many of those charged with national security violations are not civilians, but active duty service members or veterans. For example, in October, a retired Taiwanese lieutenant general was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for accepting Chinese funds to help establish an armed organization inside Taiwan, one designed to specifically target military bases. But investigators say Beijing's recruitment efforts are increasingly focused lower down the chain of command. Junior personnel, as it turns out, are cheaper to compromise and often under financial pressure. So you ask yourself, how does the recruitment work? Well, in the case of Sergeant Lai, Chinese regime operatives posed online as lenders or media producers, offering small payments delivered through messaging apps or cryptocurrency. In one case, a Facebook post advertised payments of about $125 for interviews with people who had military backgrounds. So from Beijing's perspective, Taiwanese officials say the math is straightforward. The deputy head of Taiwan's investigation bureau described paying soldiers modest sums for cooperation as, quote, good value for money. But the scale of the problem continues to grow. Taiwan's National Security Bureau says prosecutors charged 64 people in 15 espionage cases in 2024. Now it's up from just three cases in 2021. And in the first nine months of 2025, another two dozen were charged, with nearly two thirds of those accused coming from the military. It's a bit of an epidemic, which is different than a pandemic like the one that sprung from the Wuhan lab in China. The epidemic of espionage originating in China won't spread as fast as Covid, but for the Taiwanese, it could be just as deadly. Lai's case illustrates why officials are alarmed. His activities went undetected for a couple of years. Beginning In April of 2022, Lai began sending photographs of documents to Chinese handlers in exchange for crypto. When he was rotated out of the presidential detail, prosecutors say he recruited other troops to keep the pipeline open at the instruction of his Chinese intel handlers. Over two years, the group provided China with guard rosters, call signs, headshots of officials, internal training manuals and security procedures, materials that could be assembled into an operational picture for military planning purposes. Now, Lai's operation came to a halt in August of 2024 when a fellow soldier alerted authorities. Lai and three others were arrested and convicted By March. He was sentenced to seven years in prison and is estimated to have received a $15,000 from Beijing for his role. Now, you wouldn't think that you could put a price on betraying your country. The fact that Lie provided invaluable information to Chinese intel over a two year period for the princely sum of $15,000 is for Xi Jinping's China, an impressive return on investment. And as the Taiwanese authorities are learning, it's just the tip of the iceberg. And that, my friends, is the PDB Afternoon bulletin for Thursday 22 January. Now if you have any questions or comments, and I hope you do, please reach out to me at pdb@the first tv.com and if you'd like to listen to the show ad free. Well you can do that and it is very simple. Just become a premium member of the President's Daily Brief by visiting PDB premium.com I'm Mike Baker and I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.
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