China launches largest war drills around Taiwan after record US arms sale

China launched its largest-ever military exercises on Monday around Taiwanencircling the island with warships, aircraft and live-fire exercises as tensions rose following a record U.S. arms sale to Taipei.

The exercises, known as “Mission Justice 2025,” involve coordinated deployments of ground forces, warships, fighter jets, drones and artillery in seven maritime zones encircling Taiwan.

China’s Eastern Theater Command said the exercises included simulated strikes on land and sea targets and rehearsals to blockade Taiwan’s main ports, a scenario that analysts say would be key to any attempt to isolate or coerce the island.

Live-fire exercises are expected to continue until Tuesday, with China designating large danger zones for artillery fire closer to Taiwan than in any previous round of exercises. The scale of the operation has already disrupted civilian air and maritime traffic, forcing airlines to reroute flights and Taiwanese aviation authorities to plan alternative airspace corridors.

Chinese military officials have defended the exercises as a response to separatism and foreign involvement. “This is a stern warning against Taiwan independence separatist forces and external interference forces, and it is a legitimate and necessary action to safeguard China’s sovereignty and national unity,” said Col. Shi Yi, spokesman for the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.

The military escalation comes less than two weeks after the United States approved an $11.1 billion arms program for Taiwan, the largest such sale ever. Beijing denounced the deal, warning it risked turning Taiwan into a “powder keg” and driving the region toward “military confrontation and war.”

China launched its largest-ever military exercises around Taiwan on Monday. (Eastern Theater Command/Handout via Reuters)

China warns of growing war risk after historic US arms sale to Taiwan

The package includes 82 HIMARS rocket launchers paired with 420 long-range ATACMS missiles, giving Taiwan a new deep strike capability across the Taiwan Strait. It also includes 60 self-propelled howitzers, advanced unmanned aerial vehicle systems, military software and anti-armor weapons.

“The ‘Taiwan independence’ forces on the island seek independence by force and resist reunification by force, squandering the people’s hard-earned money to buy weapons at the cost of turning Taiwan into a tinderbox,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said.

“This cannot save the doomed fate of Taiwan’s independence, but will only accelerate the push across the Taiwan Strait into a dangerous situation of military confrontation and war. The United States’ support for Taiwan’s independence by arms will only backfire. Using Taiwan to contain China will not succeed.”

TAIWAN GENERAL WARNS CHINESE MILITARY EXERCISES COULD BE PREPARATION FOR BLOCKADE OR WAR, AND WANTS TO RESIST

As the exercises took place, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said 89 Chinese military aircraft, 14 warships and 14 coast guard vessels were operating around the island, and other warships had been spotted further out in the western Pacific. Some Chinese ships were engaged in close combat with Taiwanese ships near the contiguous zone of the island, approximately 24 nautical miles from shore.

A Chinese ship fires missiles during a live-fire exercise. (Eastern Theater Command/handout via Reuters)

“Conducting live-fire exercises around the Taiwan Strait… would not only pose military pressure on us, but also may pose more complex challenges and impacts for the international community and neighboring countries,” Hsieh Jih-sheng, deputy chief of Taiwan’s General Intelligence Staff, told reporters.

Taiwan placed its military on high alert and said it was ready to conduct rapid response exercises if the drills intensified. The Defense Department released a video highlighting its own capabilities, including U.S.-made HIMARS systems, while the Coast Guard deployed large patrol ships to monitor Chinese vessels near its waters.

Chinese state media said the exercises focus on sealing off Taiwan’s main deep-water ports, including Keelung in the north and Kaohsiung in the south, reinforcing concerns that Beijing is refining its blockade options ahead of an outright invasion.

A screen in Beijing shows China’s live-fire exercises.

China also released propaganda videos and posters alongside the exercises, including images showing automated humanoid robots, swarms of micro-drones and armed robotic dogs attacking the island, as well as images appearing to show civilian ships that analysts say could support an amphibious assault.

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“I think these exercises are just meant to scare us,” said Lin Wei-ming, a 31-year-old teacher in Taipei. “Similar exercises have already taken place… the political side of things can only be handled by The current government of Taiwan and how they choose to respond.

China claims Taiwan as its territory and has not ruled out using force to bring the island under its control. Taiwan rejects this claim, saying only its people can decide the island’s future.