### China Conducts Second Day of Military Drills Near Taiwan, Testing "Power Seizure" Capabilities
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) stated that its military exercises, launched in response to Taiwan’s presidential inauguration, aim to test the capacity to "seize power, launch joint attacks, and occupy key areas."
China initiated a second day of military drills targeting Taiwan, claiming it is a response to "separatist acts" following the inauguration of the island’s new president on Monday.
These exercises involve various Chinese military units, including the air force, rocket force, navy, army, and coast guard. They were announced suddenly on Thursday morning, with maps showing five approximate target areas in the sea surrounding Taiwan's main island and other offshore islands close to the Chinese mainland.
China’s defense ministry said the drills on Friday were designed to test the military's capability to "seize power" and occupy key areas, consistent with Beijing’s goal of annexing Taiwan. While Taiwan’s government and people reject the idea of Chinese rule, China’s leader Xi Jinping has not ruled out using force to take the island. Western intelligence suggests Xi has instructed the PLA to be capable of an invasion by 2027.
On Friday, China’s coast guard announced it had conducted "enforcement drills" off Taiwan’s east coast, which reportedly included “mock inspections” of civilian boats. According to a Taiwan security official, the PLA also simulated attacks on foreign vessels in the Bashi Channel, between Taiwan and the Philippines. Approximately 24 warplanes approached Taiwan but did not enter its contiguous zone, extending 24 nautical miles offshore.
Online ship trackers showed at least three Chinese coast guard vessels near Taiwan’s southwest.
The PLA reported on Thursday afternoon that fighter jets carrying live missiles had conducted "mock strikes" on Taiwanese military targets. However, the drills are smaller in scale compared to those in 2022 and 2023. No no-fly zones were declared, and no live fire was used except in practice areas on the Chinese mainland, according to Taiwan’s military.
China deployed 19 warships around Taiwan’s perimeter, 16 marine police vessels, and 49 warplanes, of which 35 crossed the median line, the de facto border between China and Taiwan. In response, Taiwan scrambled jets, put its forces on alert, and moved anti-ship missile systems to coastal areas.
PLA propaganda highlighted the Dongfeng family of ballistic missiles but did not suggest their use in the drills. State media on Friday published an animation targeting cities like Taipei, Hualien, Taichung, and Kaohsiung.
From a military base in Taoyuan on Thursday, Taiwan’s new president Lai Ching-te expressed confidence in the military’s ability to protect Taiwan.
China’s state news agency Xinhua justified the drills as “legitimate, timely, and entirely necessary,” stating that any "Taiwan independence" actions are intolerable.
On Thursday, foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin warned that “Taiwan independence forces will be left with their heads broken and blood flowing after colliding against the great trend of China achieving complete unification.”
President Lai, inaugurated on Monday after winning democratic elections in January, is from the pro-sovereignty Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which Beijing views as separatist. In his inauguration speech, Lai affirmed Taiwan’s sovereignty, vowed to defend it, and urged China to end hostilities, provoking an angry response from Beijing.
A Xinhua editorial called his speech a “serious provocation,” stating that China’s countermeasures were “inevitable.” The People’s Daily, the official newspaper of China’s ruling Communist Party, reiterated that the nation’s territory cannot be divided, and its people cannot be separated.
A conflict over Taiwan would likely involve other countries in the region and beyond. Representatives from Japan, the US, South Korea, and Australia called for calm. Australia’s foreign minister, Penny Wong, warned that “the risk of an accident, and potential escalation, is growing.”
The European Union emphasized its interest in preserving the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and opposed any unilateral actions that change it by force or coercion. A UN spokesperson urged all relevant parties to refrain from acts that could escalate tensions in the region.
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