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Taiwan's defense ministry says 71 Chinese military aircraft and 24 navy and coast guard vessels operated around the island today. Beijing says the exercises were a warning to what it calls separatists across the Taiwan Strait. NPR's Emily Feng reports.
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EMILY FENG, BYLINE: Dubbed Justice Mission 2025, these drills are China's most extensive yet around Taiwan.
WILLIAM YANG: The exercise zones are, in fact, much closer to Taiwan. And they're also visibly much larger.
FENG: That's William Yang, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, a nonprofit advisory group. The last time China held comparable drills was this past April. But today's exercises cover a far larger area and are slightly closer to Taiwan's territorial waters. Bates Gill, a senior fellow at the U.S. research institution National Bureau of Asian Research, says it's a demonstration of Beijing's unhappiness.
BATES GILL: It's unhappiness with the recent $11.1 billion arms sale that the Trump administration announced for Taiwan.
FENG: The Pentagon said in its annual report on the Chinese military this month that China continues to refine military strategies to one day take Taiwan through, quote, "brute force," including through practice drills like today's.
GILL: Encircling Taiwan and doing so in very, very close proximity.
FENG: But a big anti-corruption purge this year removed several top-level military brass in China. Wen-Ti Sung is a fellow at the U.S. think tank Atlantic Council. And he says these drills today show China's military now has a clear chain of command once again. Today's drills will likely focus on showing how Beijing can block Taiwan's ports and waterways.
WEN-TI SUNG: And through that, demonstrate and test waters in terms of how far China can go in carrying out anti-axis and area denial capabilities.
FENG: These drills come at a fractious time for Taiwan. The legislature is deadlocked over how much Taiwan should spend on its defense. Some opposition Taiwanese politicians continue to push for direct talks with China, including the Taipei mayor, who visited Shanghai late last week to smooth over tensions with Beijing. But right after the visit, China announced its drills.
SUNG: They are creating a feeling that no matter what you do, no matter how much you play nice with Beijing, there seems to be no way to get Beijing to talk things out.
FENG: Thus, sidelining those in Taiwan who favor dialogue with China.
Emily Feng, NPR News.
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