China flexes blockade capabilities near Taiwan on second day of military drills : NPR

A Taiwan Mirage 2000 fighter jet flies past an aircraft fort at an air base in Hsinchu, northern Taiwan, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

Chiang Ying-ying/AP

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Chiang Ying-ying/AP

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China’s People’s Liberation Army held a second day of large-scale military exercises around Taiwan on Tuesday, unleashing a live-fire show of force in what it called “Mission Justice 2025” to demonstrate its ability to deter outside armed support for the self-ruled island that it has long insisted is part of its sovereign territory.

The PLA’s Eastern Theater Command sent destroyers, frigates, fighters and bombers to the waters north and south of the island to test its capability in sea-air coordination and blockade. Its ground forces conducted long-range live-fire exercises in the waters north of the island and also held live-fire training, alongside simulated long-range joint strikes with air, naval and missile units, in the waters south of Taiwan, achieving what command spokesman Li Xi called “the desired effects.”

The maneuvers increased tensions around the Taiwan Strait in late 2025, but their impact extended beyond military pressure on daily life. The Civil Aviation Administration of Taiwan was informed that seven temporary “danger zones” had been created around the strait. Schedules for Taiwan’s four international airports showed as of Tuesday afternoon that more than 100 international and domestic flights had revised schedules, delays or cancellations, according to their websites.

Xinhua, China’s official news agency, published a commentary late Monday saying the exercises sent an unequivocal message: Beijing is always ready to prevent anything that attempts to separate Taiwan from China. Each escalation, he said, would result in stronger countermeasures.

“By currying favor with the United States through obsequious gestures of loyalty and promoting arms purchases, the DPP ties the entire island of Taiwan to its catastrophic secessionist chariot, in defiance of public opinion,” he writes, referring to Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party.

130 planes and a Chinese balloon detected

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te said Tuesday his territory would act responsibly, without escalating the conflict or provoking disputes.

“China has recently escalated its military pressure on a frequent basis, this is not behavior expected of a major, responsible nation,” he wrote on Facebook.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said it detected 130 aircraft, including fighters and bombers, 14 military ships and eight other official vessels around the island between 6 a.m. Monday and 6 a.m. Tuesday. Its forces continued to monitor development and deploy aircraft, naval vessels, and coastal missile systems in response. Ninety Chinese planes crossed the median line of the strait. A Chinese military balloon was also spotted, the statement said.

The PLA’s long-range artillery unit based in Fujian, a province in southeastern China, fired live ammunition toward a target area in the north of the island, with impact zones scattered around the line 44 kilometers (24 nautical miles) off its coast.

Taiwan Defense Minister Wellington Koo said the actions of Chinese troops were highly provocative, compromised regional stability and posed security threats and disruptions to ship passage, commercial activities and air routes.

While Beijing sends fighter jets and warships to the island almost daily, the scale of these exercises has heightened tensions between the two sides. China has vowed to seize the island, by force if necessary.

Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Zhang Xiaogang said the exercises were a stern warning to “Taiwan independence” separatist forces and external forces, without naming any countries.

He criticized Lai’s administration for what it called bowing to external forces and pursuing independence, saying it was the root cause of disrupting the status quo across the Strait and escalating tensions.

Last week, Beijing imposed sanctions on 20 US defense-related companies and 10 executives, following Washington’s announcement of large-scale arms sales to Taiwan, valued at more than $10 billion. These sales must still be approved by the US Congress.

Under U.S. law, Washington is required to help Taipei in its defense, a point that has become increasingly contentious 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 particularly worried about it either. He touted his “excellent relations” with Chinese President Xi Jinping and suggested he did not think Xi would attack Taiwan.

The Taiwan issue has also exacerbated Sino-Japanese tensions. Beijing expressed anger over a statement by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi saying its military could become involved if China took action against the democratically ruled island. There is widespread suspicion of Japan in China, dating back generations, when Imperial Japan brutally took control of parts of China in the years before World War II.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi castigated the “independence forces” of Japan and Taiwan.

“Japan, which launched the war of aggression against China, not only does not think deeply about the many crimes it has committed, but its current leaders also openly challenge China’s territorial sovereignty, the historical conclusions of World War II and the post-war international order,” he said at an event in Beijing on Tuesday. China, Wang added, “must be very vigilant against the resurgence of Japanese militarism.”

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 subsequently transitioned from martial law to a multi-party democracy.

Faced with the exercises, Taiwan on Monday described the Chinese government as “the greatest destroyer of peace”. He warned that live-fire exercises around the strait could pose more complex challenges to the international community and neighboring countries.

Fueling tensions, China’s Eastern Theater Command released a series of images and videos online containing provocative language throughout the exercises. He released video on Tuesday of live ammunition fired from ships and a ground launcher.

Chen Wen-chin, president of Taiwan’s Keelung District Fishermen’s Association, said the group began broadcasting hourly radio broadcasts from Monday to inform fishermen of the location of the Chinese drills, urging them to avoid danger.

“Chinese military exercises have prevented fishermen from fishing, which is their livelihood,” Chen said. “The inability to fish has had a significant impact on them and caused economic losses.”

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Leung reported from Hong Kong. Associated Press journalists Taijing Wu in Taiwan and Simina Mistreanu in Beijing contributed to this report.