TAIPEI, Dec 30: Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said that it has detected a spike in Chinese military activity around the island, detecting 130 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, 14 naval vessels, and eight official ships in surrounding airspace and waters as of Tuesday morning.
Of the aircraft, 90 crossed the Taiwan Strait median line, entering Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern, and eastern Air Defense Identification Zones (ADIZ).
The latest activity comes amid large-scale joint military drills launched by China on Monday, involving the army, navy, air force, and rocket forces in exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” Beijing said the drills are a warning against “Taiwan independence” separatist forces and foreign interference.
Taiwanese officials have set up an emergency operations center and are maintaining high alert, with frontline units authorised to respond under rules of engagement.
China’s coast guard designated two more areas, while Taiwan’s defense ministry identified an eighth area off eastern Taiwan. Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng, deputy chief of the general staff for intelligence, said the five PLA zones include Taiwan’s 12-nautical-mile (22 km) territorial sea baselines.
One exercise area off Taiwan’s southwest lies adjacent to the territorial sea baseline near Eluanbi, with a similar zone near the Penghu Islands. Internationally, a state’s territorial sea extends 12 nautical miles from its baselines, and waters within that limit constitute national territorial waters.
Citing Article 51 of the UN Charter, Lieutenant General Lien Chih-wei, deputy chief of general staff for operations and planning, said Taiwan has the right to self-defense if Chinese warships enter its territorial waters. He said Taiwan’s military has response measures at strategic, operational, and tactical levels under rules of engagement and an authorization matrix, including reporting, warning off, monitoring, and tracking.
Taiwan condemned the PLA’s maneuvers as provocations undermining regional peace and said rapid-response exercises are ongoing. The tensions come after the US approved an USD 11.1 billion arms package for Taiwan in December, prompting Chinese sanctions on US defense companies and executives.
The exercises serve as a stern warning against “Taiwan Independence” separatist forces and external interference, and are a legitimate and necessary action to safeguard China’s sovereignty and national unity, Shi Yi, spokesperson for the theater command, said.
Multiple units of the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) began the drills around Taiwan Island on Monday.
The PLA Eastern Theater Command has deployed its Army, Navy, Air Force, and Rocket Force troops to conduct exercises in the Taiwan Strait and in areas to the north, southwest, southeast, and east of Taiwan Island.
The drills are focusing on sea-air combat readiness patrols, joint operations to seize comprehensive superiority, blockades of key ports and areas, and all-dimensional deterrence beyond the island chain, he added.
The PLA Eastern Theater Command released a poster on social media for the military drills titled “Arrow of Justice, Control and Denial,” on December 29, 2025.
“With vessels and aircraft approaching Taiwan Island from multiple directions, troops from various services engage in joint assaults to test their operational capabilities,” he said.
(UNI)
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