TAIWAN remained on high alert on Wednesday as it monitored extensive Chinese military drills conducted around the island the previous day, keeping its emergency maritime response centre fully operational.
Reuters reported today that the exercises, dubbed "Justice Mission 2025," saw China deploy dozens of rockets, 77 military aircraft, and 25 navy and coast guard vessels in a significant show of force that drew international concern.
Taiwanese authorities reported that 35 Chinese aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait during the operations, prompting rapid-response drills, the dispatch of jets and warships, and the erection of barricades in key locations.
"The maritime situation has calmed down, with ships and vessels gradually departing. As China has not announced the conclusion of the military exercises, the emergency response centre remains operational," said Kuan Bi-ling, head of Taiwan's Ocean Affairs Council.
A Taiwan coast guard official confirmed that all 11 Chinese coast guard ships near the island had begun leaving the area.
Security sources reported that more than 90 Chinese naval and coast guard vessels were deployed across the South China Sea, near Taiwan, and in the East China Sea, highlighting a steady increase in China's maritime presence since the start of the week.
Taipei condemned the exercises as a "blatant provocation" and a threat to regional security, while Beijing defended them as a "necessary and just measure" to safeguard national sovereignty. Zhang Han, spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, described the drills as "a stern warning against Taiwan independence separatist forces and external interference."
The timing of the exercises came shortly after the United States announced a record $11.1 billion arms package for Taiwan, and coincided with a rare meeting in Beijing between ambassadors from the Quad nations—Australia, India, Japan, and the United States—who reaffirmed their commitment to a "free and open Indo-Pacific," according to U.S. Ambassador David Perdue.
While analysts described the drills as increasingly realistic and bold, they cautioned that China is unlikely to risk open conflict given the international consequences. Lyle Goldstein, head of the Asia programme at U.S. think tank Defense Priorities, said, "They threaten and bluster a lot, but ultimately a war would be very costly for China no matter what."
China claims Taiwan as its territory and has not ruled out the use of force, while Taiwan maintains its democratic governance and rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims.
The drills mark China’s most extensive military exercises around Taiwan to date and reflect growing tensions in the region as global powers monitor developments in the Taiwan Strait. - December 31, 2025
