Taiwan remained on maximum alert on Wednesday following large-scale military maneuvers conducted by China around the island a day earlier, according to Taiwan’s coast guard and defense authorities. Emergency maritime response centers continued operating as Taiwanese forces closely monitored ongoing Chinese naval activity.
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said that over the past 24 hours, 77 Chinese military aircraft and 25 vessels belonging to the navy and coast guard were operating around the island. Of these, 35 aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, a long-standing informal boundary separating the two sides.
The drills, which Beijing described as part of an operation dubbed “Justice Mission 2025,” involved the launch of dozens of missiles toward Taiwan and the deployment of a significant number of warships and aircraft in nearby waters and airspace. The exercises were widely seen as a major show of force and raised concerns among regional actors and Western allies.
Authorities in Taipei condemned the maneuvers as a direct threat to regional security and a clear provocation. Kuan Bi-ling, head of Taiwan’s Ocean Affairs Council, said that while Chinese vessels appeared to be gradually moving away, Beijing had not officially announced the end of the drills. As a result, Taiwan’s maritime emergency response mechanisms remain active.
In a social media post late Tuesday, Kuan said the situation at sea had calmed somewhat, with ships beginning to depart, but stressed that full vigilance would continue until China formally declared the exercises concluded.
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