Live-fire drills by China along its own coastline are under active observation by the armed forces, Defence Minister Wellington Koo told reporters at the start of the week. Five maritime exclusion zones — stretching from waters in the South China Sea northward to the Liaoning coastal region — were placed under no-sail restrictions by the China Maritime Safety Administration, with the affected areas stopping short of Taiwan's immediate waters, effective Thursday.
Of all the islands in the chain, the one positioned nearest to Taiwan sits off Zhejiang, a province along China's eastern coastline. Notices put the duration of the drills at a full week.
Addressing reporters at parliament, Koo described the preliminary findings as pointing toward coastal artillery units and associated formations conducting firing drills, while noting that the guiding principle of anticipating the broadest possible range of enemy actions meant that observation of those forces — whether engaged in live-fire exercises or broader military training — would be maintained.
Addressing the nation on Saturday's anniversary celebration, Lai Ching-te conveyed that Taiwan holds peace as a core value while remaining committed to its autonomy, and that the population's right to self-determination warrants acknowledgement and respect. Beijing reacted with a formal objection to the remarks, in keeping with its longstanding position that Taiwan forms part of its national territory.
Beijing classifies Lai as a secessionist and has not taken up the dialogue he has put forward on multiple occasions. Beijing's defence ministry, while stopping short of tying the week's military drills to Lai's address, contended on Sunday that he had overstated the threat posed by China and was pursuing what it described as a bid to achieve independence through armed means, with the ministry adding that People's Liberation Army exercises conducted around Taiwan were intended to discourage moves toward Taiwanese independence and outside involvement, and to uphold the safety and welfare of people living on the island. The statement described the action as fully warranted.
Aerial and naval manoeuvres by the Chinese military have become a near-daily occurrence around Taiwan, though a full-scale exercise has not been conducted since late December — drills that followed a US announcement of an arms package to Taiwan worth $11 billion, the largest of its kind on record.
Washington's assessment of Beijing's naval conduct near Taiwan's eastern shoreline — described in official remarks as conduct that "deeply destabilises" the region and compounds existing friction — followed a broadcast outlet's August documentation of what appeared to be the first recorded presence of a Chinese militia vessel in those particular waters.
At a Monday briefing in Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning asserted that the waters in question fall under Chinese sovereignty and that the country's conduct there is above criticism, adding that responsibility for instability in the sea lies elsewhere — though she provided no further detail.
Lai has maintained that the question of Taiwan's political future rests solely with its own population, and that any territorial claim over the island by Beijing lacks legitimacy.
