On Monday, the Chinese armed forces began large-scale military exercises called Mission Justice 2025 near Taiwan. This was reported by world agencies with reference to Chinese media.
- Chinese armed forces have started exercises near Taiwan called Mission Justice 2025.
- The exercises include live fire and the blockade of key ports.
- Taiwan condemned the exercises as military intimidation by China.
- The US will sell $11.1 billion worth of arms to Taiwan.
- China warns against military intervention by foreign forces in Taiwan.
Training for battles at sea and in the air
On Monday, destroyers, frigates, fighter jets, bombers and drones are deployed in maneuvers to practice firing on naval targets north and southwest of Taiwan. On Tuesday, they will include sharp shooting in five zones around Taiwan, in which from 08:30 local time (01:30 CET) restrictions on sea and air traffic will apply for ten hours.
The maneuvers are aimed at practicing combat readiness at sea and in the air, achieving overall superiority, blocking key ports and territories, and carrying out multi-dimensional deterrence, said Shi’ I, spokesman for the Chinese military’s Eastern Military District Command.
Taiwan condemned military intimidation
He called the drills a “serious warning” to separatist forces in Taiwan and those who support them. They are also a “legitimate and necessary” measure to protect China’s sovereignty and national unity.
A spokeswoman for Taiwan’s presidential office “strongly condemned” China’s use of military intimidation and assured residents that the armed forces are fully prepared to ensure Taiwan’s security. In this regard, Taiwan’s military announced that in response to the drills, it had deployed “appropriate forces” around the island, set up a command center and conducted an immediate review of combat readiness.
Reaction to Sane Takaičiová
These are China’s first major maneuvers since April and the sixth since August 2022, when then-Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan. However, it is the first time China has publicly declared that the exercises are aimed at “deterring” foreign military intervention.
The drills appear to be Beijing’s response to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo, as it could pose a threat to Japan’s existence, in which the right to collective self-defense under a 2015 law could be invoked. China has called on Takaichi to retract her statement, summon the Japanese ambassador and warn its citizens against the trip to Japan.
The US will sell arms to Taiwan for more than 11 billion dollars
The maneuvers also began just eleven days after the US announced that it would sell $11.1 billion worth of arms to Taiwan. It is the largest such package for Taiwan in history, which China’s Ministry of Defense has protested. China responded last week by imposing sanctions on 20 American arms companies.
Chinese warships and military aircraft move almost daily near Taiwan, which Beijing considers part of its territory, although it has had an independent and democratically elected government for decades. China is threatening to annex Taiwan by force if it does not achieve its reunification through peaceful means.
