BEIJING: China “successfully completed” military drills around Taiwan that included live-fire exercises aimed at simulating a blockade of key ports and assaults on maritime targets, the military said on Wednesday.

Beijing launched missiles and deployed dozens of fighter jets, navy ships and coastguard vessels on Monday and Tuesday around Taiwan’s main island.

“The reunification of our motherland, a trend of the times, is unstoppable,” Chinese President Xi Jinping said in his New Year message from Beijing, state news agency Xinhua reported.

A spokesperson for Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) said it had “successfully completed” the drills, code-named “Justice Mission 2025”.

Beijing completes exercises aimed at simulating blockade of the island

Chinese troops would keep training to “resolutely thwart the attempts of Taiwan independence separatists and external intervention”, the spokesperson said.

The Taiwanese coastguard said earlier that Chinese warships and coastguard vessels were withdrawing from surrounding waters.

Taiwan’s defence ministry said in a statement it was adjusting its plans to maintain an “appropriate response mechanism”.

Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te warned on Wednesday that Chinese drills targeting the island “are not an isolated incident” and pose “significant risks” to the region.

Arms for Taiwan

The drills followed a bumper round of arms sales to Taipei by Washington, Taiwan’s main security backer, and comments from Japan’s prime minister that the use of force against Taiwan could warrant a military response from Tokyo.

There has been a chorus of international criticism of China’s drills.

Japan said the military exercises “increase tensions” across the Taiwan Strait, and that it had expressed its “concerns” to Beijing.

Australia’s foreign ministry condemned the “destabilising” drills, saying it had raised concerns with its Beijing counterparts.

Beijing said criticism of its exercises was “irresponsible”.

“These countries and institutions are turning a blind eye to the separatist forces in Taiwan attempting to achieve independence through military means,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a news briefing.

“Yet, they are making irresponsible criticism of China’s necessary and just actions to defend its national sovereignty and territorial integrity, distorting facts and confusing right and wrong, which is utterly hypocritical.” China said it had deployed destroyers, frigates, fighters and bombers “to conduct drills on subjects of identification and verification, warning and expulsion, simulated strikes, assault on maritime targets, as well as anti-air and anti-submarine operations”.

A statement from its armed forces said the exercises in waters to the north and south of Taiwan “tested capabilities of sea-air coordination and integrated blockade and control”.

The drills were held as US ambassador to China David Perdue met his counterparts from Australia, India and Japan, which are part of the Quad group that is seen as a counter to Beijing.

“The Quad is a force for good working to maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Perdue said in a post on X, alongside a photo of the four ambassadors in Beijing.

Published in Dawn, January 1st, 2026