China conducts large-scale Taiwan drills amid rising tensions

China's military moved army, naval, air force, and artillery units around Taiwan on Monday for its "Justice Mission 2025" drills, as the island vowed to defend democracy and mobilised troops to rehearse repelling a potential Chinese attack.

The Eastern Theatre Command announced the drills would involve live-fire exercises on Tuesday, accompanied by a graphic demarcating five zones surrounding the island that would be under sea and airspace restrictions for ten hours from 8:30 a.m. (0030 GMT).

This marks China's sixth major round of war games since 2022, following then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the democratically governed island, and comes amid heightened Chinese rhetoric over Beijing's territorial claims after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could prompt a military response from Tokyo.

The drills began 11 days after the US announced $11.1 billion in arms sales to Taiwan—the largest ever weapons package for the island—drawing a protest from China's defence ministry and warnings that the military would "take forceful measures" in response. Beijing's exercises increasingly blur the line between routine training and what analysts say could be stage-setting for an attack, a strategy designed to give the US and its allies minimal warning of a potential assault.

China's military said it had deployed fighter jets, bombers, unmanned aerial vehicles, and long-range rockets, and would practise striking mobile land-based targets while simulating a coordinated assault on the island from multiple directions.

"This [the drills] serves as a serious warning to 'Taiwan Independence' separatist forces and external interference forces," said Shi Yi, a spokesperson for the Eastern Theatre Command.

Taiwan's government condemned the drills. A presidential office spokesperson urged China not to misjudge the situation or undermine regional peace, calling on Beijing to immediately halt what they described as irresponsible provocations.

The island's defence ministry said two Chinese military aircraft and 11 ships had been operating around Taiwan over the past 24 hours, and that Taiwan's military remained on high alert and poised to carry out "rapid response exercises."

The drill is specifically designed to enable rapid troop mobilisation in case China suddenly turns one of its frequent exercises around the island into an attack.

"All members of our armed forces will remain highly vigilant and fully on guard, taking concrete action to defend the values of democracy and freedom," the ministry said.

Taiwan's stock markets were largely unaffected by the drills, rising 0.3% to a record high in morning trading.

Read moreChina threatens 'forceful measures' over $11.1 billion US arms sales package to Taiwan

‘Smash the separatist scoundrels’

The Chinese military released two posters titled "Shields of Justice: Smashing Illusions" and "Arrows of Justice: Control and Denial", alongside a graphic depicting four locations across the island with targets locking on, following the drill announcement.

China's state broadcaster said the drills would focus on sealing off Taiwan's vital deep-water ports of Keelung to the north and Kaohsiung to the south, the island’s largest port city.

The first poster features two golden shields emblazoned with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army insignia and the Great Wall of China, along with military aircraft and two ships. China is mobilising an armada of civilian ships capable of supporting an attack on Taiwan. Vessels with ramps and open decks similar to military landing craft used in amphibious assaults since World War Two appear in the poster.

"Any foreign interference that touches the shield [of justice] shall perish! Any separatist scoundrels who encounter the shield shall be destroyed!" the poster reads.

The second poster shows flaming arrows raining down on Taiwan, spearing green cartoon bugs. Beijing regularly labels Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te a "parasite" and began using the green bug caricature to represent separatist forces during April’s war games.

While the PLA practised port blockades around Taiwan during war games last year, this marks the first time it has publicly stated that drills around the island aim to deter outside military intervention.

Takaichi's remarks triggered a surge in Chinese messaging emphasising its sovereignty claims. Chinese leader Xi Jinping told US President Donald Trump in November that Taiwan's "return to China" after World War Two was central to Beijing's vision of the global order.

Taiwan rejects China's claimed sovereignty, maintaining that only its people can decide the island's future.

(FRANCE 24 with Reuters)