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01-01-2026
BEIJING/ TAIPEI: China launched its most extensive war games around Taiwan on Monday to showcase Beijing’s ability to cut off the island from outside support in a conflict, testing Taipei’s resolve to defend itself and its arsenal of US-made weapons.
The Eastern Theatre Command said it had deployed troops, warships, fighter jets and artillery for its “Justice Mission 2025” exercises to encircle the democratically governed island, conduct live fire and simulated strikes on land and sea targets, and drills to blockade Taiwan’s main ports.
The live-firing exercises will continue on Tuesday across a record seven zones designated by China’s Maritime Safety Administration, making the drills the largest to date by total coverage and in areas closer to Taiwan than previous exercises. The military had initially said artillery firing would be confined to five zones.
Drills force flight cancellations
Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said there was also an extra zone for a two-hour drill on Monday morning, which took place without a Chinese announcement in the eastern waters of the island.
The Transport Ministry said more than 100,000 passengers on scheduled international flights will be affected by Tuesday’s drills, while around 80 domestic flights are set to be cancelled.
China’s sixth major round of war games since 2022, after then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the democratically governed island, follows stronger rhetoric promoting Beijing’s territorial claims in response to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggesting a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo.
Taiwan rejects China’s claimed sovereignty, maintaining that only its people can decide the island’s future.
“Our armed forces operate on the principle of preparing for the worst and must take every possible scenario into account,” Hsieh Jih-sheng, deputy chief of the general staff for intelligence at Taiwan’s defence ministry, told reporters, when asked about Tuesday’s drills.
“Conducting live-fire exercises around the Taiwan Strait … would not only constitute military pressure on us but could also pose more complex challenges and impacts for the international community and neighboring countries.”
‘Strong message on external interference’
The exercises began 11 days after the U.S. announced $11.1 billion in arms sales to Taiwan, the largest ever weapons package for the island, drawing a protest from China’s defence ministry and warnings the military would “take forceful measures” in response. “They (China) are sending a strong message on external interference,” said Chieh Chung, a researcher at Taiwan’s Institute for National Defence and Security Research, pointing to how China had “completely cut off” air and sea links with Japan for three zones to Taiwan’s north.
Analysts say Beijing’s drills increasingly blur the line between routine military training exercises and what could be stage-setting for an attack, a strategy intended to give the US and its ally’s minimal warning of an assault.
The Chinese military also released a video depicting automated humanoid robots, microdrones and weaponized robotic dogs attacking the island, futuristic technology China has never showcased before. Fu Zhengyuan, a researcher at the Chinese military’s Academy of Military Science, told state media the exercises were justified by concerns over increasing interoperability between Taiwanese and US combat systems, which he said raises the risk of a direct clash between the two superpowers. (Int’l News Desk)
