Chinese amphibious armored vehicles, like those seen here during a training exercise Sept. 23, 2025, joined live-fire drills around Taiwan on Dec. 29, 2025. (China Military Online)
China launched a series of live-fire drills this week that encircled Taiwan, a measure Beijing described as a “punitive and deterrent action” against the island democracy and countries that support its independence.
The drills, dubbed Justice Mission 2025, continued into Tuesday and included China’s army, navy, air force and rocket force in seven zones around the northern and southern end of Taiwan, according to China’s Eastern Theater Command and China’s Maritime Safety Administration.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian alluded to a proposed $11.1 billion arms deal between the U.S. and Taiwan as a catalyst for the exercise, according to a Dec. 29 transcript of his remarks.
The deal, announced Dec. 17, includes a variety of missile systems and equipment, including High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, according to a Dec. 18 news release from Taiwan’s Office of the President.
“[Taiwan’s] massive and desperate arms purchase further reveal their true nature as provocateurs, saboteurs of peace and war-mongers,” Lin said. “Anyone who tries to arm Taiwan to contain China will only embolden the separatists and push the Taiwan Strait closer to the peril of armed conflict.”
China views Taiwan as a breakaway province that must be reunified with the mainland, by force if necessary.
The drills involved bomber and fighter task forces, amphibious assault ships, destroyers, frigates and other assets, the Eastern Theater Command said in a series of posts to social media website Weibo between Monday and Tuesday.
The drills included a wide variety of scenarios, including simulated strikes, maritime assaults, air defense, long-distance raids and anti-submarine warfare, according to the command.
“It is a stern warning against ‘Taiwan Independence’ separatist forces and external interference, and a legitimate and necessary action to safeguard China’s sovereignty and national unity,” Eastern Theater Command spokesman Senior Col. Shi Yi said, according to the state-run China Military Online website.
The U.S. 7th Fleet at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, referred questions Tuesday about China’s military exercise to the Pentagon, which did not respond to an email after close of business.
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry, which reported 130 Chinese aircraft and 22 ships operating around Taiwan between Tuesday and Wednesday morning, condemned the exercise and labeled Beijing’s actions as “irrational provocations,” according to several posts on X.
“Rapid Response Exercises are underway, with forces on high alert to defend [Taiwan] and protect our people,” the ministry wrote Tuesday.
President Donald Trump in Florida on Tuesday told reporters he wasn’t concerned about the drills, Reuters reported that day.
“Nothing worries me. Nothing,” Trump said, according to Reuters. “They’ve been doing naval exercises for 20 years in that area.”
