Military drills with live fire around Taiwan began today, according to the island’s defense authorities. The exercises are described as equivalent to a blockade of Taiwanese naval and air routes and come in the wake of a controversial visit to Taipei by a high level U.S. official. The drills include the temporary closure of sea and air space in several zones surrounding the island, with one area located roughly 20 kilometers off the coast of Kaohsiung, Taiwan’s major southern city.
On Wednesday, Taiwanese defense officials reported that 27 Chinese military aircraft entered the island’s self-proclaimed Air Defense Identification Zone and that combat air patrols were deployed in response. Chinese authorities issued radio warnings, and defense systems were activated to monitor the incursions. Separately, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said that Taiwanese forces fired flares on two occasions to deter a Chinese military drone near the Kinmen Islands, an area southeast of the mainland city of Xiamen, which is controlled by Taipei. Kinmen and nearby outlying islets have long been flashpoints when tensions intensify between Taipei and Beijing.
According to reports in Taiwanese media, the Chinese exercises disrupted aviation by affecting 18 international airlines and forcing adjustments to more than 900 flight routes. Taiwan’s Ministry of Transport announced that ships entering or departing from Taiwan would need to navigate around closed or active exercise zones, a detour that would extend travel times but generally add only a few hours to journeys. Officials cautioned that prolonged or expanded drills could compound the impact on maritime and air traffic if the exercises extend beyond initial expectations.
Taiwan’s defense ministry stated that it is monitoring the surrounding area in response to what it called irrational actions by the Chinese military. While officials emphasized a desire to avoid any escalation, they underscored their commitment to protecting Taiwan’s security and sovereignty. In parallel reporting by Chinese state media, a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft, identified as an RC-135S, departed from Okinawa and approached the region, remaining roughly 600 kilometers from Taiwan. Reports also indicated that the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan altered its course, moving northeast toward Japan, amid ongoing regional tensions.
China characterized Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan as unnecessary and a betrayal, asserting that Taiwan is a province under Beijing’s sovereignty. The narrative from Beijing frames the island as a breakaway territory, a view that has fed a sustained cycle of military posturing and diplomatic friction between China and Taiwan over the past several decades. The current events reflect a broader pattern in which military exercises and air and sea patrols are used as signals in a highly charged geopolitical dispute that draws in outside powers and regional allies alike.