China wraps major military drills around Taiwan after US arms sale

Tuesday 06 January 2026 - 14:50

By: Dakir Madiha

China wraps major military drills around Taiwan after US arms sale

China completed large-scale military exercises around Taiwan on December 30, deploying warships, fighter jets, and missiles in what Beijing dubbed "Justice Mission 2025." The maneuvers marked the latest escalation in strait tensions following a record $11.1 billion U.S. arms sale to the island. Taiwan reported ongoing Chinese military activity into early January, detecting eight aircraft sorties and seven warships on January 6.

The drills, held December 29-30, represented China's eighth major exercise around Taiwan since 2022. Taiwan's Defense Ministry tallied 130 People's Liberation Army aircraft, 14 warships, and eight coast guard vessels. Ninety aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait median line, a boundary Beijing increasingly disregards.

The operations simulated a blockade of Taiwan's key ports, including Kaohsiung, Keelung, and Hualien, with live-fire drills in seven maritime zones. China fired 27 rockets in two salvos from Fujian province, landing about 44 kilometers from Taiwan's coast. For the first time since 2022, Beijing announced maritime exclusion zones, five of which overlapped Taiwan's territorial waters.

Taiwan's National Security Bureau warned that such patterns show China's deliberate aim to undermine the island's critical infrastructure comprehensively. The bureau revealed Taiwan faced an average of 2.63 million daily cyberattacks from China in 2025, up 6% from 2024, often coinciding with military patrols as part of Beijing's "hybrid warfare" strategy.

The exercises disrupted over 850 international flights, affecting more than 100,000 passengers, and canceled 84 flights to Taiwan's outlying Kinmen and Matsu islands. Beijing framed them as a "stern warning" to Taiwanese separatists and external actors, with its Foreign Ministry calling it a "punitive response" to separatist activities.

The drills followed Washington's December 18 approval of its largest-ever arms package to Taiwan, worth $11.1 billion, including 82 HIMARS rocket systems, 420 ATACMS missiles, howitzers, and armed drones. China swiftly sanctioned 20 U.S. defense firms and 10 executives, such as Northrop Grumman, Boeing subsidiaries, and Anduril Industries founder Palmer Luckey.

Regional tensions also spiked between China and Japan after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi stated on November 7 that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could pose an "existential crisis" for Japan, potentially justifying deployment of its Self-Defense Forces. Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned Beijing would "respond forcefully." On January 6, China announced export controls to Japan for military use, heightening the diplomatic rift.

The U.S. State Department on January 2 stated that "China's military activities and rhetoric toward Taiwan and other regional actors unnecessarily heighten tensions" and urged Beijing to "exercise restraint, cease military pressure on Taiwan, and pursue constructive dialogue instead." Taiwan President Lai Ching-te pledged in his New Year's address to "resolutely defend national sovereignty," noting global democracies' condemnation of Beijing's actions.

China's newest carrier, the Fujian, transited the Taiwan Strait on December 16, though Taiwan's Defense Minister indicated it appeared headed for maintenance rather than operations. Taiwan detected 15 Chinese military aircraft and 36 warships in the first six days of January alone, with several planes crossing the median line daily.