{"id":7756,"date":"2025-12-29T13:13:35","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T13:13:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=7756"},"modified":"2025-12-29T13:13:35","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T13:13:35","slug":"china-launches-live-fire-drills-around-taiwan-simulating-blockade-of-major-ports-taiwan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=7756","title":{"rendered":"China launches live-fire drills around Taiwan simulating blockade of major ports | Taiwan"},"content":{"rendered":"

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China has launched live-fire military drills around Taiwan<\/a>, simulating a blockade of major ports, attacking maritime targets, and fending off international \u201cinterference\u201d, in what it calls a warning to \u201cseparatist\u201d forces in Taiwan.<\/p>\n

The People\u2019s Liberation Army (PLA) \u2013 the military wing of the ruling Communist party in China<\/a> \u2013 sent its navy, air force, rocket force and coastguard to surround Taiwan on Monday morning for a surprise exercise called \u201cJustice Mission 2025\u201d, which began less than an hour after it was announced.<\/p>\n

The PLA\u2019s eastern theatre command said it had deployed destroyers, frigates, fighters, bombers, drones and long-range missiles \u201cin close proximity\u201d to Taiwan, to test \u201csea-air coordination and precise target hunting and neutralisation\u201d, including attacks on submarines and other maritime targets.<\/p>\n

By Monday afternoon, Taiwan\u2019s defence ministry said it had detected 28 navy and coastguard ships, including two that entered Taiwan\u2019s contiguous zone. At least 89 warplanes \u2013 the largest daily tally for more than a year \u2013 were counted, and a formation of four amphibious assault ships, which can carry dozens of rotary aircraft, was spotted 160 nautical miles west of Taiwan\u2019s southern tip.<\/p>\n

Col Shi Yi, the spokesperson for the PLA\u2019s eastern theatre command, said the drills were \u201ca stern warning against \u2018Taiwan independence\u2019 separatist forces and external interference forces\u201d. A foreign ministry spokesperson, Lin Jian, said unnamed \u201cexternal parties\u201d were pushing the region closer to war.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>Screenshot from a video released by the PLA showing helicopters on an amphibious assault ship taking part in the military drills.<\/span> Photograph: Eastern Theatre Command\/Reuters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cAny sinister schemes to obstruct China\u2019s reunification are doomed to fail,\u201d Lin said.<\/p>\n

While large military drills take extensive planning and are usually part of general training, the PLA often links them to perceived acts of provocation, and some propaganda on Monday specifically cited a recent approval by the US government for a record $11bn weapons sales to Taiwan<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Analysts also noted Beijing\u2019s recent anger at speeches by Taiwan\u2019s president, Lai Ching-te, vowing to boost Taiwan\u2019s defences <\/a>and achieve a \u201chigh level of combat preparedness\u201d by 2027, and the ongoing dispute with Japan<\/a> after its prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, said her country would most likely become militarily involved if China attacked Taiwan.<\/p>\n

Fu Zhengnan, a researcher at the PLA\u2019s Academy of Military Science, was quoted by Chinese media as saying that the drills were justified by the recent US weapons sales and the fact that the goods bought included offensive as well as defensive equipment. \u201cDespite repeated warnings from China, the US and Taiwan engaged in serious collusion and provocation. The PLA\u2019s decisive action was a reasonable, legal and forced response,\u201d Fu said.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>A Taiwanese air force Mirage 2000 fighter jet takes off from Hsinchu airbase in Taiwan on Monday.<\/span> Photograph: Ritchie B Tongo\/EPA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A propaganda poster depicted flaming arrows shot from China to Taiwan\u2019s main island, piercing green bugs representing what Beijing terms separatist forces, while a foreign warship \u201cflee[s] upon witnessing this scene\u201d, the state media tabloid, the Global Times said.<\/p>\n

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In response to the drills, Taiwan accused Beijing of escalating tensions and undermining regional peace. It condemned the activity, saying it dispatched \u201cappropriate forces\u201d to respond and conduct counter-combat-readiness exercises of its own.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefending democracy and freedom is no provocation, and the existence of the Republic of China [Taiwan\u2019s formal name] is not an excuse for aggressors to disrupt the status quo,\u201d the ministry said.<\/p>\n

Beijing claims Taiwan is a Chinese province and is preparing to militarily annex it, with the aim of being capable of invasion by 2027, according to US intelligence from several years ago.<\/p>\n

The Chinese Communist party (CCP) and its leader, Xi Jinping, have urged Taiwan to accept \u201cpeaceful reunification\u201d<\/a> to avoid deadly force. However, the vast majority of Taiwan\u2019s parliament and people reject the prospect of CCP rule, and Taiwan is boosting its own military defences in resistance.<\/p>\n

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