China has staged a second day of large-scale military drills around Taiwan, unleashing a live-fire show of force as part of what it called “Justice Mission 2025.”
The drills are meant to demonstrate China’s ability to deter any external armed support for the self-ruled island that it has long insisted is part of its sovereign territory.
China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA)’s Eastern Theater Command sent destroyers, frigates, fighters and bombers to the waters to the north and south of the island to test its ability in sea-air coordination and blockading.
Its ground forces carried out long-range, live-fire drills in the waters to the island’s north, and achieved what command Spokesperson Li Xi called “desired effects.”
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said it had detected 130 aircraft, including fighters and bombers, 14 military ships and eight other official ships around the island between 6 a.m. yesterday, Monday and 6 a.m. today, Tuesday, December 30, 2025.
Its forces kept monitoring the development and deployed aircraft, navy ships and coastal missile systems in response. Ninety of the Chinese aircraft crossed the median line of the strait and entered Taiwan’s “air defense identification zone.” A Chinese balloon was also spotted, it said.
It said the PLA long-range artillery unit in Fujian, a southeastern Chinese province, fired live rounds toward a target zone north of the island, with impact zones scattered around the line, 44 kilometers (27 miles) off its coast.
Chinese Defense Ministry Spokesperson, Zhang Xiaogang said the drills served as a stern warning to “Taiwan independence” separatist forces and external forces, without naming any countries.
He criticized Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te‘s administration for what it called pandering to external forces and pursuing independence, saying that was the root cause of disrupting the status quo in the strait and escalating tensions.
China’s official news agency, posted a commentary late Monday saying that the drills sent a message that Beijing is always ready to prevent anything that tries to split Taiwan from China. Each escalation, it said, would be met with stronger countermeasures.
“By currying favor with the United States through obsequious loyalty gestures and promoting arms purchases, the DPP[Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party] is binding the entire island of Taiwan to its catastrophic secessionist chariot, disregarding public opinion.”
Xinhua, China’s official news agency
Last week, Beijing imposed sanctions against 20 defense-related US companies and 10 executives, following a Washington announcement of large-scale arms sales to Taiwan valued at more than $10 billion. Those sales still require approval by the US Congress.
Under US law, Washington is obligated to assist Taipei with its defense, a point that has become increasingly contentious with China over the years.
China’s Actions Deemed Provocative
Taiwan’s Defense Minister, Wellington Koo said that the Chinese troops’ actions were highly provocative, undermined regional stability and posed security threats and disruptions to passing ships, trade activities and flight routes.
The maneuvers increased tension around the Taiwan Strait as 2025 drew to a close, but the impact extended beyond military pressure into everyday life. Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration was notified that seven temporary “dangerous zones” had been set up around the strait, affecting international and domestic air travelers.
According to Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration, more than 80 domestic flights were cancelled on Tuesday, many to Taiwan’s outlying islands, and more than 300 international flights could face delays due to rerouted air traffic during the drills.
While Beijing sends warplanes and navy vessels toward the island on a near-daily basis, the scale of these exercises escalated tensions between both sides. China claims the island off its southeastern coast as sovereign territory and has vowed to seize it, by force if necessary.
China and Taiwan have been governed separately since 1949, when the Communist Party rose to power in Beijing following a civil war. Defeated Nationalist Party forces fled to Taiwan, which later transitioned from martial law to multiparty democracy.
READ ALSO: GDP Can’t Measure Empty Pockets: Bokpin Demands Jobs-Focused Economic Policy
