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

A Taiwan Mirage 2000 fighter jet at an airbase in Hsinchu in the north of the country (Chiang Ying-ying/AP)

China’s People’s Liberation Army was staging a second day of large-scale military drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, unleashing a live-fire show of force as part of what it called Justice Mission 2025.

The exercise was designed 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.

Taiwanese officials said some of China’s live rounds landed closer to the island than before.

The manoeuvres 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.

The schedules of Taiwan’s four international airports on Tuesday afternoon showed more than 150 international and domestic flights had revised times, delays or cancellations, according to their websites.

Xinhua, China’s official news agency, posted a commentary late on Monday saying the drills sent an unequivocal 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.

A Taiwan Mirage 2000 fighter jet, as President Lai Ching-te said his territory would act responsibly by neither escalating conflict nor provoking disputes (Chiang Ying-ying/AP)

“By currying favour with the United States through obsequious loyalty gestures and promoting arms purchases, the DPP is binding the entire island of Taiwan to its catastrophic secessionist chariot, disregarding public opinion,” it wrote, referring to Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party.

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) eastern theatre 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 co-ordination and blockading.

Its ground forces carried out long-range, live-fire drills in the waters to the island’s north and also organised live-fire training, alongside simulated long-range, joint strike with air, navy and missiles units, in the waters to Taiwan’s south, achieving what command spokesman Li Xi called “desired effects”.

Hsieh Jih-sheng, deputy chief of the general staff for intelligence at the Taiwanese defence ministry, said some of the 27 rockets detected in the waters near Taiwan fell within its 24-nautical-mile (44km) line.

“The landing points of rounds definitely were closer to Taiwan compared to the past,” he said.

“This is a message it deliberately wants to convey.”

The military power is not necessarily the strongest, but the scale of the drills has become larger each time compared to the last

Taiwan president Lai Ching-te said on Tuesday that his territory would act responsibly by neither escalating conflict nor provoking disputes. He condemned the drills.

Taiwan’s defence ministry said it had detected 130 aircraft, including fighters and bombers, 14 military ships and eight other official ships around the island between 6am on Monday and 6am on Tuesday. 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. A Chinese military balloon was also spotted, it said.

The ministry later said it detected 71 aircraft, 13 military ships and 15 coastal guard and official vessels as of 3pm on Tuesday, in addition to four other warships in the western Pacific. A total of 941 flights were affected by the drills, it said.

“The military power is not necessarily the strongest, but the scale of the drills has become larger each time compared to the last,” Mr Hsieh said.

He accused Chinese forces of trying to influence public morale and undermine trust in the Taiwanese military and government.

China has vowed to seize the island, by force if necessary. Beijing sends warplanes and navy vessels toward the island on a near-daily basis.

A departures board at Taipei Songshan Airport where flights were affected by China’s military drills (Chiang Ying-ying/AP)

Chinese defence 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 Mr Lai’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.

Last week, Beijing imposed sanctions against 20 defence-related US companies and 10 executives, following a Washington announcement of large-scale arms sales to Taiwan valued at more than 10 billion US dollars (£7.4 billion).

Under US law, Washington is obligated to assist Taipei with its defence, a point that has become increasingly contentious with China over the years.

On Monday, US president Donald Trump said that while he was not informed of the military exercise in advance, neither was he particularly worried about it.

He touted his “great relationship” with Chinese president Xi Jinping and suggested he did not think Mr Xi was going to attack Taiwan.