China's military is practising hitting key ports and energy infrastructure, including live fire exercises
China’s large-scale air and sea military drills around Taiwan are a “warning” from Beijing that could have “sinister” long-term consequences amid uncertainty over American influence in the region, according to international policy experts.
The Chinese military conducted massive drills, including an aircraft carrier battle group in the waters and airspace around neighbouring self-ruled island Taiwan on Tuesday.
China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) began the joint drills without notice, sending 76 aircraft and more than 20 Navy and Coast Guard ships, including the Shandong carrier group, to positions around Taiwan’s main island.
The PLA said exercises would continue in the central and southern areas of the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, practising hitting key ports and energy infrastructure. In an escalation, the PLA said it would use live fire during Wednesday’s drills.
Civil war caused the two countries to split 76 years ago. However, tensions have risen since 2016 when China, which considers democratically governed Taiwan a part of its own territory to be brought under its control by force if necessary, cut off almost all contact with Taipei.
In a video accompanying Tuesday’s announcement, the PLA’s Eastern Theatre Command called the pro-independence Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te a “parasite”. A spokesperson added that the joint exercises were intended as a “severe warning and forceful containment against Taiwan independence”.
A senior EU diplomat in Taipei said the military operations were “business as usual” for Chinese provocation against Taiwan.
They told The i Paper: “What we call usual has a sinister intention in the long run. The practice for real action, and they make the world used to it.”
Any escalating conflict could also bring in the US, which maintains a series of alliances in the region and is legally bound to treat threats to Taiwan as a matter of “grave concern.”
On Wednesday, the US state department accused China of risking the region’s security. It said in a statement that it remained committed to Taiwan “in the face of China’s intimidation tactics and destabilising behaviour”.
Dr William Matthews, a senior research fellow at independent London-based think tank Chatham House, said the current military exercises by China were intended as a “warning” to Taiwan, with the key driver being Beijing’s perception that President Lai would cross one of its “red lines” – such as making reunification without conflict impossible.
A Chinese fighter jet flies above Pingtan island, the closest point in China to Taiwan's main island, in Fujian province on April 2, 2025. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP) (Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images)
A Chinese fighter jet flies above Pingtan island, the closest point in China to Taiwan’s main island, on April 2 (Photo: Hector Retamal/AFP)
It comes after efforts by Taipei to crack down on Chinese infiltration and influence operations, he explained.
“[The drills] form part of an ongoing pattern of Beijing ramping up the scale of military and coast guard activity around the island in response to perceived provocations, and with a view to putting pressure on Taipei,” Dr Matthews told The i Paper.
“If Lai did cross a perceived red line, then this base level of military activity would mean China could move from drills to actual conflict fairly easily.”
He added that if the US is perceived to be prioritising Taiwan in the event of an impending conflict, escalation in the region remains within the realms of possibility.
“The role of the US is important in Beijing’s calculations, but it is a mistake to view China’s stance on Taiwan primarily in terms of China-US relations,” Dr Matthews said.
“The current administration’s position is unclear – Donald Trump has refused to comment on what the US would do in the event of a China-Taiwan conflict, but reported Pentagon strategy suggests a focus on deterring China over Taiwan specifically.
“If Beijing believes both that ‘peaceful unification’ is becoming impossible, and that the US is moving to prioritise Taiwan in terms of its defence strategy, then it may seek conflict even though that is not its preferred option.”
In response to the drills, Taiwan’s Presidential Office posted on X that “China’s blatant military provocations not only threaten peace in the Taiwan Strait but also undermine security in the entire region.”
“We strongly condemn China’s escalatory behaviour,” it added.
This image released by the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense shows China???s Shandong aircraft carrier sailing near Taiwan on Monday, March 31, 2025. (Taiwan Ministry of National Defense via AP)
This image released by the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense shows China’s Shandong aircraft carrier sailing near Taiwan on March 31 (Photo: Taiwan Ministry of National Defense/AP)
The Chinese also recently held drills near Australia and New Zealand, for which they gave no warning, forcing the last-minute rerouting of commercial flights.
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said it had tracked 19 Chinese navy vessels in the waters surrounding the island in 24 hours from 6am Monday until 6am Tuesday.
It added that the Shandong aircraft carrier group had entered Taiwan’s air defence identification zone on Monday, a self-defined area tracked by the military.
Beijing sends warplanes and navy vessels to the island daily, having stepped up the scope and scale of these exercises in recent years. These latest drills come just two weeks after a large-scale exercise in mid-March when Beijing sent a large number of drones and ships toward the island.
Taiwanese officials have recently warned that China could launch a sneak attack under the guise of military exercises.
On the streets of Taipei, people said the atmosphere was tense but were more concerned about the economy and developments surrounding the Trump administration.
“The Chinese Communists spend so much time and effort on these things, but most people don’t pay much attention,” said Lin Hui-Tsung, a noodle seller in Tianmu district.