Beijing has launched its most aggressive military exercise of the year, deploying the “four services” of the PLA to simulate a total blockade of Taiwan in a “stern warning” to separatist forces and their international backers.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army launched a large-scale, multi-service military exercise code-named “Justice Mission 2025” in the waters and airspace surrounding Taiwan on Monday (December 29). The drills, which involve coordinated manoeuvre’s by the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Rocket Force, are designed to simulate a comprehensive blockade of the island’s key ports and test the military’s ability to seize “all-dimensional superiority.”
The exercise represents a major escalation in regional tensions, coming just 11 days after the United States approved a record-breaking $11.1 billion arms sale to Taipei.
- Scope and Zones: The PLA’s Eastern Theatre Command published a map marking out five large exclusion zones surrounding the island. The drills cover the Taiwan Strait as well as areas to the north, southwest, southeast, and east of Taiwan, effectively encircling the territory.
- Combat Objectives: Operations focus on maritime and aerial combat patrols, precision strikes against mobile ground targets, and “all-dimensional deterrence” meant to push international intervention forces beyond the “first island chain.”
- Live-Fire Drills: While patrols began Monday, a second notice confirmed that intensive live-fire activities will be held Tuesday (December 30) from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM local time.
- Military Hardware: The drills feature destroyers, frigates, fighter jets, H-6 bombers, and a variety of unmanned aerial vehicles working together with long-range rocket systems.
“This is a stern warning against ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces and a legitimate and necessary action to safeguard China’s sovereignty and national unity,” Senior Colonel Shi Yi, spokesperson for the PLA’s Eastern Theatre Command, said.
Major General Meng Xiangqing of the PLA National Defence University warned that the military has the capability to “turn the exercise into a war at any time,” stressing the drills are a direct response to “recent frequent collusion between the US and Taiwan.”
Taiwan’s Presidential Office and Ministry of National Defence issued a “strongest condemnation” of the maneuvers, calling them “irrational provocations.”
- High Alert: The MND has set up a contingency response centre and deployed its own “appropriate forces” to monitor the PLA’s movements.
- Counter-Drills: Taipei launched its own “rapid response exercises” to make sure domestic forces can mobilize instantly if the PLA manoeuvre’s turn into an actual assault.
“Justice Mission 2025” is the sixth major round of war games targeting Taiwan since 2022. Analysts see the timing as a response to several factors: the record US arms package (which includes HIMARS and Javelin missiles), recent pro-sovereignty rhetoric from President Lai Ching-te, and comments from Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggesting Tokyo could militarily step in to protect the island.
With live-fire exercises scheduled through Tuesday, international shipping and fishing communities have been told to avoid the marked zones. While markets in Taipei stayed steady on Monday, security experts warn that the shrinking “warning time” between exercises and potential combat makes the risk of a miscalculation higher than at any point in the last decade.
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