The United States has accused China of jeopardizing regional security due to its military exercises targeting Taiwan, which involved rehearsing a blockade and attacking the island. The People’s Liberation Army commenced the joint drills without warning on Tuesday, deploying 76 aircraft and over 20 naval and coast guard vessels, including the Shandong carrier group, near Taiwan’s main island.

On Wednesday, the PLA announced that exercises would continue in the central and southern parts of the Taiwan Strait, focusing on striking key ports and energy infrastructure. This time, the drills would involve live fire.

The United States State Department stated that it remains committed to supporting Taiwan and other allies in the face of China’s intimidation tactics and destabilizing behavior. It emphasized the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and opposing any unilateral changes to the status quo, especially through force or coercion.

The Chinese Maritime Safety Administration established a restricted shipping zone due to military drills in an area off the north of the eastern province of Zhejiang, more than 310 miles from Taiwan. A senior Taiwan defense official clarified that it was outside their “response zone.”

China’s Communist Party asserts that Taiwan is a province that needs to be “reunified” with the mainland and does not exclude the use of force to achieve this goal. Consequently, the PLA regularly engages in a range of tactics, such as military exercises, economic, legal, and cyber warfare, and disinformation campaigns.

These military drills have been accompanied by extensive propaganda, including videos depicting an attack on Taiwan and cartoons portraying Taiwan’s president as a target. Chinese government officials have stated that the exercises aim to counter acts of “separatism” by Taiwan’s president, Lai Ching-te, who has taken a more assertive stance in facing cross-strait tensions than his predecessor.

Both of Taiwan’s major political parties oppose CCP rule over Taiwan, although they hold different views on how to maintain peace. The public in Taiwan is also strongly opposed to CCP rule. Meanwhile, China claims historical sovereignty over Taiwan and asserts that the majority of people, counting its 1.4 billion citizens, support the idea of “reunification.”

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/02/us-says-china-military-drills-targeting-taiwan-put-regions-security-at-risk