Taiwan launched its largest annual military exercise of the year on Thursday — a five-day drill combining live-fire coastal defence, naval exercises in the Taiwan Strait, and civilian air-raid drills across the island. Defence Minister Wellington Koo described it as a “full-spectrum readiness test” against a scenario in which China imposes an air and naval blockade.
The exercise comes amid a record 71 Chinese military aircraft incursion reported by Taiwan’s defence ministry in the past 30 days — a pace that would surpass last year’s total by a significant margin. Analysts at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) say the pattern is consistent with PLA pre-blockade intelligence gathering, including repeated flights through Taiwan’s air defence identification zone.
More than 22,000 reservists were called up for the exercise, the largest mobilisation since Taiwan extended conscription from four months to one year in 2024. The drill includes simulated attacks on Taiwan’s ports and airfields, with the navy practising anti-submarine warfare and the air force running combat air patrols over the strait.
The US State Department approved a $500 million arms sale to Taiwan on Wednesday, including F-16 fighter jet maintenance kits and advanced radar equipment. The sale drew an immediate protest from Beijing, with the Chinese foreign ministry summoning the US charge d’affaires for a formal demarche and warning of “serious consequences.”
China’s PLA Eastern Theatre Command said it was “closely tracking” the Taiwanese exercises and would “take resolute countermeasures if provoked.” Satellite imagery analysed by CSIS shows a significant concentration of PLA Navy vessels off Taiwan’s eastern coast, consistent with a notional blockade posture that military planners have been warning about for years.
Japan’s defence ministry issued a rare statement saying it was “monitoring the situation with grave concern,” while the Philippines called for “maximum restraint” in the Taiwan Strait. Australia said it was in close contact with US and Taiwanese counterparts. The European Union expressed “deep concern” over rising tensions and urged all parties to resolve differences through dialogue.
Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te said the island would “never compromise on its sovereignty” and called on Beijing to “choose dialogue over intimidation.” The exercises are expected to conclude on Monday with a live-fire demonstration off Taiwan’s western coast.
Sources: Reuters, AP, Focus Taiwan, Taipei Times, BBC, South China Morning Post.
The exercise marks the first time Taiwan has integrated its newly acquired US-made HIMARS rocket systems into a full-scale drill. Military analysts say the inclusion of HIMARS — the same system that proved decisive in Ukraine’s defence against Russia — represents a significant shift in Taiwan’s defensive posture, moving from a traditional beach-defence model to a “porcupine strategy” designed to make any amphibious invasion prohibitively costly.
Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office accused Taipei of “playing with fire” and warned that “reliance on external forces will only lead to disaster.” The statement came hours after Chinese state media published editorials calling the US arms sale “a gross violation of China’s sovereignty” and demanding Washington “immediately cease all military ties with Taiwan.”
Taiwan’s semiconductor industry — which produces more than 60% of the world’s advanced chips — remains a key strategic concern for all parties. Analysts note that any disruption to Taiwan’s chip manufacturing capacity would have catastrophic consequences for the global technology supply chain, a fact that provides Taipei with significant leverage but also makes the island a target for coercion.