China kicks off second day of military drills around Taiwan

In response to the most recent rise in tensions over the self-governing island, China has conducted a second day of military exercises around Taiwan.

China’s military announced on Tuesday that navy destroyers, bombers, and other forces had been deployed as part of the “separatist” and “external” war games. Beijing claims these are meant as “separatist” and “external” forces.

According to Chinese state media, the drills included live-fire exercises conducted between 8 am and 6 pm local time (08:00 to 08:00 GMT), air and sea patrols, simulated precision strikes, and anti-submarine maneuvers in five maritime and airspace zones around Taiwan.

According to Taiwan’s Central News Agency, some of the live-fire drills would take place within 12 nautical miles (22 kilometers) of the coastline, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense.

More than 300 international flights may experience delays as a result of rerouted air traffic during the drills, according to Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration, which included more than 80 domestic flights that were canceled on Tuesday. Many of these were to Taiwan’s outlying islands.

The exercises, which are dubbed “Justice Mission 2025,” started early on Monday and came shortly after the United States revealed its largest-ever weapons package for Taiwan, worth $11.1 billion.

In an editorial on Monday, The China Daily reported that the drills were “part of a series of Beijing’s responses to the US arms sales to Taiwan and a warning to Taiwanese president Lai Ching-te authorities in Taiwan.”

Lin Jian, a spokesperson for the Chinese government’s foreign affairs, added that the exercises were “a necessary step to safeguard China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” as well as a “punitive and deterrent action against separatist forces who seek Taiwan’s independence through military buildup.”

Since then-US Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in 2022, China has conducted large-scale military exercises there for the sixth time since Justice Mission 2025.

According to William Yang, senior analyst for Northeast Asia at the Crisis Group, “anti-access and area denial capability” will be a key focus of the “Justice Mission 2025” exercises to ensure that Taiwan cannot receive supplies from allies like Japan and the US during a conflict.

Additionally, Yang said, taking control of strategically important waterways like the Bashi Channel and Miyako Strait, through which Taiwan imports a large portion of its energy supplies, would be akin to a blockade of Taiwan’s major ports in the north and south.

Large metal hammers strike the ports of Keelung in the north and Kaohsiung in the south, according to a poster from China’s Eastern Theatre Command, titled “Hammer of Justice: Seal the Ports, Cut the Lines.”

Between 6 am on Monday (22:00 GMT, Sunday) and 6 am on Tuesday (22:00 GMT, Monday), Taiwan’s defense ministry reported tracking 130 air sorties by Chinese aircraft, 14 naval ships, and eight “official ships.”