China conducts military exercises with live rounds around Taiwan for a second day – National
China’s People’s Liberation Army held a second day of large-scale military exercises in Taiwan on Tuesday, launching a show of force as part of what it called “Justice Mission 2025” to demonstrate its ability to block any foreign support for the island it claims is part of its sovereign territory.
Taiwanese officials said some of China’s live rounds came closer to the island than before.
The maneuver raised tensions around the Taiwan Strait as the year 2025 drew to a close, but the impact went beyond military pressure into everyday life. Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration was notified that seven “danger zones” had been set up near the current. Schedules at four international airports in Taiwan on Tuesday afternoon showed more than 150 international and domestic flights revised, delayed or canceled.
Xinhua, China’s official news agency, reported late Monday that the drills sent a consistent message: That Beijing is always ready to prevent anything that tries to separate Taiwan from China. Each escalation, it said, would be met with strong countermeasures.
“By persuading the United States by showing excessive loyalty and encouraging the purchase of weapons, the DPP is binding the entire island of Taiwan to its cart of creating a crisis of secession, ignoring public opinion,” he wrote, referring to Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party.
The PLA’s Eastern Theater Command sent destroyers, frigates, fighters and bombers to the waters north and south of the island to test their ability in naval air communications and interdiction. Its underground forces are launching long-range missiles, putting out fire from the water in the north of the island. They also organized live-fire training and a joint long-range strike with air, naval and missile units in waters south of Taiwan, achieving what command spokesman Li Xi called “desirable results.”
Hsieh Jih-sheng, deputy chief of intelligence staff at Taiwan’s Defense Ministry, said another 27 rockets were found in waters near Taiwan that fell within its 24-nautical-mile (44-kilometer) line. “The round-robin scores were much closer in Taiwan compared to the past,” he said. “This is the message you want to convey on purpose.”
Planes, ships and a Chinese balloon have been found
Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te said on Tuesday that his country would work with a commitment not to inflame conflict or incite conflict. He criticized the tests themselves.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense said it found 130 aircraft, including fighters and bombers, 14 warships and eight other official ships around the island between 6:00 a.m. Monday and 6 a.m. Tuesday. Its forces continued to monitor and deployed aircraft, naval and coastal missile systems in response. 90 of the Chinese planes crossed the middle line of the strait. A Chinese military balloon was also spotted, it said.
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The ministry later said it had found 71 aircraft, 13 warships and 15 coast guard and official vessels as of 3 p.m. Tuesday, in addition to four other warships in the western Pacific. A total of 941 aircraft were involved in the training, he said.
“The military force is not the strongest, but the level of exercise has been greater each time compared to the last,” Hsieh said. He accused the Chinese military of trying to influence public behavior and undermine trust in Taiwan’s military and government.
China has vowed to take over the island, by force if necessary. Beijing sends warplanes and warships towards the island almost every day.
Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Zhang Xiaogang said the drills were a strong warning to separatist forces and “Taiwan independence” and abroad, without naming any countries.
He criticized Lai’s administration for what he called cooperation with foreign powers and the pursuit of independence, saying that this is the cause of disrupting the current situation in the crisis and the tension in the tense situation.
Last week, Beijing imposed sanctions on 20 US defense-related companies and 10 officials, following Washington’s announcement of a major arms sale to Taiwan worth more than $10 billion.
Under US law, Washington is obligated to help Taipei defend itself, a point of contention with China over the years.
Beijing criticizes Japan
On Monday, US President Donald Trump said that although he was not informed in advance about the military exercise, he was not worried about it. He expressed his “great relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping and suggested he did not think Xi would attack Taiwan.
The Taiwan issue has also increased tensions between China and Japan. Beijing has expressed anger at the statement of the Japanese prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, saying that its military may intervene if China takes measures against the democratic island. There remains widespread suspicion in China about Japan that goes back generations when the Japanese empire brutally occupied parts of China in the years before World War II.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi criticized both the “pro-independence forces” of Japan and Taiwan.
“Japan, which started a war of aggression against China, not only fails to think seriously about the many crimes it has committed, but its current leaders also openly challenge China’s territorial sovereignty, the historical results of World War II, and the post-war international order,” he said on Tuesday during an event in Beijing.
China, Wang added, “must be very wary of Japan’s military resurgence.”
China and Taiwan have been governed separately since 1949, when the Communist Party came to power in Beijing following a civil war. Defeated Nationalist Party forces fled to Taiwan, which later transitioned from martial law to a multiparty democracy.
To fuel tensions, China’s Eastern Theater Command posted a series of photos and videos online containing provocative language throughout the training. It posted live video of the firing from the ships and the ground-based launcher on Tuesday.
Chen Wen-chin, chairman of the Keelung District Fishermen’s Association in Taiwan, said the group had started hourly radio broadcasts since Monday to inform fishermen about the Chinese exercise, urging them to avoid danger.
“Chinese military exercises have prevented fishermen from fishing, which is their livelihood,” Chen said. “Not being able to fish had a big impact on them and caused economic losses.”
