drills

South African official says drills with Russia, Iran, China and others key to protecting ‘maritime economic activities’.

South Africa has defended weeklong naval drills with Russia, Iran, China and other countries as “essential”, describing the manoeuvres off its coast as a vital response to rising maritime tensions globally.

The “Will for Peace 2026” exercises that began on Saturday off the coast of Cape Town come just days after the United States seized a Venezuela-linked Russian oil tanker in the North Atlantic, saying it had violated Western sanctions.

The seizure, part of a continued US pressure campaign against Venezuela, followed US attacks on the South American country and the abduction of its president, Nicolas Maduro.

The naval exercises also come at a time of heightened tensions between US President Donald Trump’s administration and several BRICS Plus countries, including China, Iran, South Africa and Brazil.

Captain Nndwakhulu Thomas Thamaha, South Africa’s joint task force commander, told the opening ceremony on Saturday that the drills were more than a military exercise and a statement of intent among the BRICS group of nations.

“It is a demonstration of our collective resolve to work together,” Thamaha said. “In an increasingly complex maritime environment, cooperation such as this is not an option, it is essential.”

The exercises also aimed to “ensure the safety of shipping lanes and maritime economic activities”, he added.

Expanding bloc

BRICS, originally made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, has expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Indonesia.

Lieutenant Colonel Mpho Mathebula, acting spokesperson for joint operations, told the Reuters news agency that all member states had been invited to this week’s naval exercises.

China and Iran deployed destroyer warships to South Africa, while Russia and the United Arab Emirates sent corvette vessels and South Africa dispatched a frigate. Indonesia, Ethiopia and Brazil have joined as observers.

Asked about the timing of the event, South Africa’s Deputy Defence Minister Bantu Holomisa said on Friday that the drills were planned long before the current spike in global tensions.

“Let us not press panic buttons because the USA has got a problem with countries. Those are not our enemies,” Holomisa said.

“Let’s focus on cooperating with the BRICS countries and make sure that our seas, especially the Indian Ocean and Atlantic, they are safe,” he said.

Previously known as Exercise Mosi, the drills were initially scheduled for November but postponed due to a clash with the G20 summit in Johannesburg, which was boycotted by the Trump administration.

Washington has accused the BRICS bloc of “anti‑American” policies and warned that its members could face an additional 10-percent tariff on top of existing duties already applied worldwide.

South Africa has also drawn US criticism for its close ties with Russia and a range of other policies.

That includes the South African government’s decision to bring a case against top US ally Israel to the International Court of Justice, accusing the Israeli government of committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

South Africa also drew criticism for hosting naval drills with Russia and China in 2023, coinciding with the first anniversary of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

The three nations first conducted joint naval drills in 2019.

US recently approved $11bn arms package for Taiwan, which condemned ‘provocative’ Chinese military drills.

The United States has called on China to exercise “restraint” and avoid actions that raise tensions following a series of war games around Taiwan simulating a blockade of the island.

The US Department of State said in a statement on Thursday that China’s bellicose language and military drills, which prompted sharp condemnation from Taipei, were a source of unnecessary strain.

“China’s military activities and rhetoric toward Taiwan and others in the region increase tensions unnecessarily. We urge Beijing to exercise restraint, cease its military pressure against Taiwan, and instead engage in meaningful dialogue,” said State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott.

“The United States supports peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and opposes unilateral changes to the status quo, including by force or coercion,” he added.

China fired missiles and deployed jets and naval vessels earlier this week in a simulation of military actions to encircle Taiwan, which Beijing claims as an integral part of its territory and has vowed to bring under its control.

Chinese military drills have become a frequent occurrence, causing few disruptions to life on the self-governed island, whose status the US has not officially weighed in on.

But Beijing’s assertive stance has prompted angry condemnations from Taiwanese officials, and crackdowns on formerly autonomous areas such as Hong Kong following integration with China have bolstered scepticism about the prospects of possible reunification with Beijing.

“As president, my stance has always been clear: to resolutely defend national sovereignty and strengthen national defence,” Taiwanese President William Lai Ching-te said on Thursday.

Lai has called for a $40bn increase in Taiwan’s military spending, but the proposal is stalled in the country’s legislature, where the opposition party currently holds a majority.

“The coming year, 2026, will be a crucial one for Taiwan,” the president said, adding that Taiwan must “make plans for the worst, but hope for the best”.

While US lawmakers often make strong statements of support for Taiwan, US policy towards the island has been marked by ambiguity for decades and does not include an assurance of military support in the event of an invasion by China.

The US recently approved an $11bn arms package for Taiwan, but President Donald Trump said earlier this week that he did not believe China had plans to launch an invasion of Taiwan in the near future.

“I have a great relationship with [Chinese] President Xi [Jinping]. And he hasn’t told me anything about it. I certainly have seen it,” Trump told reporters on Monday.

“They’ve been doing naval exercises for 20 years in that area. Now people take it a little bit differently,” he added.

Dec. 30 (UPI) — China continued its live-fire drill called “Justice Mission 2025,” on Tuesday creating a blockade around Taiwan and disrupting flights, but President Donald Trump said he’s not worried.

Reporters asked Trump about the drills Monday, and he said he has a “great relationship with President Xi [Jinping], and he hasn’t told me anything about it.”

“I certainly have seen it … I don’t believe he is going to be doing it,” Trump said. He didn’t elaborate on what he meant that Xi could do. “Nothing worries me.”

“They’ve been doing naval exercises for 20 years in that area,” he told reporters.

Trump is expected to make a formal visit to Beijing next year.

Though Taiwan is a self-governing democracy, China claims it is a Chinese province. China has been pushing for a “peaceful reunification” with Taiwan. But it hasn’t ruled out taking the island nation by force.

On Friday, China sanctioned U.S. companies and their leadership after the United States announced an $11.1 billion arms deal with Taiwan on Dec. 18.

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said it detected 130 Chinese military aircraft and 22 naval and coast guard vessels in the past 24 hours up to 6 a.m. Tuesday.

“China ignores the expectations of the international community for peace and persists in destroying regional stability with military threat, which is a blatant provocation to regional security and international order, and I would like to express my strongest condemnation,” President Lai Ching-te said Tuesday in a Facebook post.

Lai also said the drills were disrupting trade and air traffic.

“China’s military provocations along the First Island Chain severely disrupt global maritime trade, air traffic and regional peace. #Taiwan continues to act responsibly, neither escalating tensions nor yielding to threats – we will steadfastly defend our freedom against coercion,” he said on X.

Taiwan Defense Minister Wellington Koo said the drills disregarded international norms and “clearly aim to achieve cognitive warfare and deplete Taiwan’s combat capabilities … and to create division and conflict within Taiwanese society,” The Guardian reported.

This exercise is the sixth of its kind since 2022, though it’s the largest. In 2022, the drills were in retaliation for then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi‘s visit. But this is the first time since then that China has created “maritime exclusion zones.” Planes and boats were not allowed to pass during the drills.

China has held two-day military drills – Justice Mission 2025 – around Taiwan, marking the sixth round of large-scale war games since 2022, when then-Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi visited the island.

The exercise included 10 hours of live fire drills on Tuesday as Chinese forces practised encircling Taiwan and blockading its major ports.

What happened during the Justice Mission 2025?

The war games began on Monday in the waters and airspace to the north, southwest, southeast and east of Taiwan’s main island, according to China’s Eastern Theatre Command spokesperson Shi Yi.

The exercises saw China deploy its naval destroyers, frigates, fighter planes, bombers, drones, and long-range missiles to simulate seizing control of Taiwan’s airspace, blockading its ports, and striking critical infrastructure, “mobile ground targets” and maritime targets, Shi said.

The exercises also simulated a blockade of Taiwan and its main ports, Keelung and Kaohsiung.

Tuesday’s live-fire drills were held in five zones around Taiwan between 8am and 6pm local time (00:00 GMT and 10:00 GMT), according to the Eastern Theatre Command. Chinese forces fired long-range rockets into the waters around the island, according to a video released by the military on social media.

Taiwan’s coastguard said seven rockets were fired into two drill zones around the main island.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Defence said it had tracked 130 air sorties by Chinese aircraft, 14 naval ships and eight “official ships” between 6am on Monday and 6am on Tuesday.

Ninety of the air sorties crossed into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ), an area of land and sea monitored by Taipei, during the 24 hours, in the second-largest incursion of its kind since 2022.

How were the exercises different from last time?

Justice Mission 2025 was the largest war game since 2022 in terms of the area covered, according to Jaime Ocon, a research fellow at Taiwan Security Monitor.

“These zones are very, very big, especially the southern and southeast zones around Taiwan, which actually breached territorial waters,” he told Al Jazeera, referring to the region within 12 nautical miles (22km) of Taiwan’s coast. “That’s a big escalation from previous exercises.”

They also focused explicitly on blockading Taiwan, unlike past iterations, sending a strong message to Taipei and its unofficial allies, particularly the US and Japan.

“This is a clear demonstration of China’s capability to conduct A2/AD – anti-access aerial denial – making sure that Taiwan can be cut off from the world and that other actors like Japan, the Philippines, or the United States cannot directly intervene,” Ocon said.

A blockade would impact not only the delivery of weapons systems but also critical imports, such as natural gas and coal, that Taiwan relies on to meet nearly all its energy needs. It would also disrupt vital global shipping routes through the Taiwan Strait.

Alexander Huang, director-general of Taiwan’s Council on Strategic and Wargaming Studies, told Al Jazeera the drills were similar to those held after Pelosi’s visit in August 2022.

“For this drill, it actually interfered with international civil aviation routes and also maritime shipping routes. In previous drills, they tried to avoid that, but this time they actually disrupted the air and maritime traffic,” he said.

The drills also put pressure on Taiwan’s maritime and transport links to Kinmen and Matsu islands, which are closer to the Chinese mainland.

Why did China stage the exercises now?

China has a history of holding military exercises to express its anger with Taiwan and its allies, but large-scale exercises have become more frequent since Pelosi’s Taiwan visit.

Beijing claims Taiwan as a province and has accused the US of interfering in its internal affairs by continuing to sell weapons to Taipei and supporting its “separatist” government led by President William Lai Ching-te.

Washington does not officially recognise Taiwan, whose formal name is the Republic of China, but it has pledged to help Taipei defend itself under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act and the 1982 Six Assurances.

The Justice Mission 2025 came just days after Washington approved a record-breaking $11.1bn arms sale to Taiwan.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Monday that the drills were a “punitive and deterrent action against separatist forces who seek ‘Taiwan independence’ through military build-up, and a necessary move to safeguard China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity”. Beijing sanctioned 30 US firms and individuals over the arms sale.

Experts also say the exercises were linked to a separate but related diplomatic row between China and Japan.

Beijing was angered in November by remarks from Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi that an attack on Taiwan would be a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan. Such a scenario would legally permit Japan to exercise its “right of collective self-defence” and deploy its military, she said.

How is Taiwan responding to the drills?

Taiwan cancelled more than 80 domestic flights on Tuesday and warned that more than 300 international flights could be delayed due to flight rerouting during the live-fire drills.

Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said the coastguard monitored the exercises near the outlying islands and that an undisclosed number of naval vessels had also been deployed nearby. Taipei also monitored all incursions into its ADIZ, including the Taiwan Strait, sections of coastal China, and waters around Taiwan.

In a statement on Tuesday, Defence Minister Wellington Koo said, “[Beijing’s] highly provocative actions severely undermine regional peace and stability [and] also pose a significant security risk and disruption to transport ships, trade activities, and flight routes.”

Koo described the exercises as a form of “cognitive warfare” that aimed to “deplete Taiwan’s combat capabilities through a combination of military and non-military means, and to create division and conflict within Taiwanese society through a strategy of sowing discord”.

How did the US respond to the drills?

US President Donald Trump has so far remained quiet about the military drills, telling reporters on Monday that he was “not worried”.

“I have a great relationship with President Xi, and he hasn’t told me anything about it,” Trump said when asked about the exercises during a news conference, according to Reuters. “I don’t believe he’s going to be doing it,” he added, seemingly referring to the prospect of actual military action targeting Taiwan.

William Yang, a senior analyst for Northeast Asia at the International Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera that Trump might avoid saying much about the Justice Mission 2025 exercises as he hopes to meet President Xi Jinping in April to discuss a US-China trade deal. “It’s a diplomatic strategy to make sure the US response is not going to immediately upset the temporary trade truce between the US and China,” Yang said.

“I think it’s quite consistent with how he personally and his administration have been handling the issue of Taiwan by trying to de-prioritise making public statements,” he said.

China’s latest live-fire drills around Taiwan include a simulated blockade of the island — a strong possibility should Beijing seek to retake what it describes as a breakaway province that must eventually be reunited. As well as potentially reflecting, at least in part, Beijing’s existing planning for a future invasion of Taiwan, the exercises come at a time of notable tensions between China and the United States, as well as Japan.

This morning, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command sent elements from its navy, air force, rocket force, and coast guard to surround Taiwan, as part of a surprise exercise called Justice Mission 2025. The maneuvers began less than an hour after they had been officially announced, and assets said to be involved include destroyers, frigates, fighters, bombers, drones, and long-range missiles. The photo at the top of this story, showing a PLA J-16 Flanker multirole fighter, was released today by the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense, reportedly obtained via the targeting pod of a Taiwanese F-16. It may, however, originate from an earlier occasion.

The PLA Eastern Theater Command released a video on its official Weibo account that purportedly shows a view of the Taipei 101 skyscraper, as seen from a drone.

Most significantly, the live-fire drills involve a simulated blockade of major Taiwanese ports. As we have described in the past, an aerial and maritime blockade of Taiwan could potentially be an attractive option for Beijing to use its hard power, with the aim of choking the island into submission, while holding back from a full-scale invasion.

At the same time, Justice Mission 2025 has involved training for other kinds of contingencies, including attacking different types of maritime targets, and responding to international “interference” — a tacit reference to dealing with the U.S. military and other nations that might be expected to come to Taiwan’s aid in a crisis.

In the PLA’s words, its forces are conducting their drills “in close proximity” to Taiwan, to test “sea-air coordination and precise target hunting and neutralization,” including attacks on submarines and other maritime targets.

As of Monday afternoon, local time, the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense said it had detected 28 PLA Navy and coast guard ships, including two that entered Taiwan’s contiguous zone.

Very notable that the majority of the PLA vessels marked in this map are inside Taiwan’s contiguous zone and pushing against the boundary of Taiwan’s territorial waters.

Five of the exercise zones and live-fire areas violate the territorial waters. https://t.co/j1S4IIGNjz

— Ben Lewis 🇺🇦 (@OfficialBen_L) December 29, 2025

At least 89 PLA aircraft were also reported, the largest daily tally for more than a year. In a break from previous exercises, a significant number of PLA aircraft reportedly had their transponders switched on, meaning that they were visible on flight-tracking software, reflecting Beijing’s apparent decision to conduct the drills more in the public eye.

So close, so beautiful, go to Taipei at any time …
《这么近 那么美 随时到台北》
伸手可掬日月潭水，迈步可登阿里山顶

Latest footages: Aerial view of Taipei #101 skyscraper from the perspective of a drone of the Chinese #PLA
【解放军无人机俯瞰台北101大厦】 #ChinaMilBugle… pic.twitter.com/UdW1jbuFnc

— China Military Bugle (@ChinaMilBugle) December 29, 2025

Taiwan also stated that a formation of four amphibious assault ships, with embarked helicopters, was spotted 160 nautical miles west of Taiwan’s southern tip.

Compared to previous large-scale exercises, Justice Mission 2025 appears to be making use of a larger area, according to published maps of air and maritime warning areas. At least some of these zones also overlap with Taiwan’s territorial border, which extends to 12 nautical miles off its coast.

Col. Shi Yi, the spokesperson for the PLA’s Eastern Theater Command, described the exercise as “a stern warning against ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces and external interference forces.”

Beijing has also issued messages intended for U.S. consumption.

In particular, foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian claimed that unnamed “external parties” were pushing the region closer to war. “Any sinister schemes to obstruct China’s reunification are doomed to fail,” Lin added.

More pointedly, China’s Ministry of Defense said today that “relevant countries” should “abandon illusions of using Taiwan to contain China.”

For its part, Taiwan has condemned the latest Chinese exercises.

Taipei accused Beijing of escalating tensions and undermining regional peace. In response to the PLA maneuvers, Taiwan said that it dispatched “appropriate forces” to respond and conduct counter-combat-readiness exercises of its own.

In response to today’s #PLA aircraft and naval activity, the #ROCArmedForces conducted Rapid Response Exercises and closely monitored the situation. Joint sea and air operations with all services and the Taiwan Coast Guard remain on high alert. #FullAwareness pic.twitter.com/urRlOh4cUL

— 國防部 Ministry of National Defense, ROC(Taiwan) 🇹🇼 (@MoNDefense) December 29, 2025

“Defending democracy and freedom is no provocation, and the existence of the Republic of China [Taiwan’s formal name] is not an excuse for aggressors to disrupt the status quo,” the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense said.

We strongly condemn the PRC’s irrational provocations and oppose the PLA’s actions that undermine regional peace.
Rapid Response Exercises are underway, with forces on high alert to defend the Republic of China and protect our people.#ROCArmedForces#PeaceThroughStrength pic.twitter.com/uPw0Qm9Upn

— 國防部 Ministry of National Defense, ROC(Taiwan) 🇹🇼 (@MoNDefense) December 29, 2025

The backdrop to Justice Mission 2025, of course, is Beijing’s aspiration to reunify Taiwan with the mainland.

Many have floated 2027 — which also marks the centenary of the founding of the PLA — as the year China could be capable of invading the island, including U.S. officials. While the Chinese leadership has expressed its preference for a unification achieved through peaceful means, the PLA has also been instructed to be prepared to conduct a successful invasion of Taiwan no later than 2027.

Starting from ‘island encirclement’ drills by H-6 bombers from 2016, when Taiwan’s independence-leaning President Tsai Ing-wen took office, China’s gray-zone operations directed against the island have been progressively stepped up to frequent incursions into its southwestern corner of the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) since 2020.

Another significant turning point was the August 2022 visit to Taiwan by a U.S. congressional delegation led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. This provided Beijing with further justification to escalate. Significant numbers of PLA aircraft were sortied over the tacitly agreed median line of the Taiwan Strait while warships sailed into its contiguous zone. 

Justice Mission 2025 is now the sixth major PLA military exercise targeting Taiwan since Pelosi’s visit.

On the one hand, large-scale military maneuvers, and especially live-fire exercises, are a critical element of routine readiness training for the PLA.

On the other hand, Beijing has frequently timed these maneuvers, or otherwise promoted them, in response to perceived acts of provocation by Taiwan or the United States.

With that in mind, it’s likely no coincidence that the apparent snap drills come soon after the U.S. government approved a record $11-billion arms package for Taiwan. This includes offensive as well as defensive equipment — including additional examples of the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) — which has long been a particular issue for China.

There has also been a notable uptick in critical articles in Chinese state media in recent days regarding the U.S. position toward the so-called ‘First Island Chain.’

The First Island Chain is a boundary defined by archipelagos opposite mainland East Asia, extending from the southern end of the Japanese home islands all the way to the South China Sea.

For long, the United States has highlighted the strategic importance of defending the First Island Chain against primarily Chinese aggression.

Beijing has also voiced displeasure with recent statements from Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, who has called for increased defense spending to counter what he described as China’s “intensifying” threats.

Japan, too, has been highlighted by Beijing, specifically after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said her country would likely become militarily involved if China were to attack Taiwan.

As such, the timing for a high-profile military exercise of this kind is very much right, as far as Beijing is concerned.

It is notable, however, that on this occasion the signaling as well as the scenarios being practiced focus not only on dealing with Taiwan, but also deterring international involvement, something that is now being referenced more explicitly by Beijing.

Speaking after a major exercise in April of this year, U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said that “America is committed to sustaining robust, ready, and credible deterrence in the Indo-Pacific, including across the Taiwan Strait.”

Now, with the PLA’s second major exercise during U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term, Beijing will be keeping a close eye on Washington’s response to the drills.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

Day two of the ‘Justice Mission 2025’ drills will include 10 hours of live-fire exercises and a simulated blockade of Taiwan’s major ports.

China has begun a second day of military drills around Taiwan in the latest escalation of tensions over the self-governing island.

China’s military said on Tuesday that it had deployed navy destroyers, bombers and other forces as part of the war games, which Beijing claims are aimed at “separatist” and “external” forces.

The drills were due to include live-fire exercises between 8am and 6pm local time (00:00 to 10:00 GMT) in five maritime and airspace zones around Taiwan, as well as air and sea patrols, simulated precision strikes and anti-submarine manoeuvres, according to Chinese state media.

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence said some of the live-fire drills would take place in what Taiwan considers its territorial waters, or within 12 nautical miles (22km) from the coastline, according to Taiwan’s Central News Agency.

More than 80 domestic flights were cancelled on Tuesday, many to Taiwan’s outlying islands, and more than 300 international flights could face delays due to rerouted air traffic during the drills, according to Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration.

The exercises, code-named “Justice Mission 2025”, began early Monday and came days after the United States announced its largest-ever weapons package for Taiwan, worth $11.1bn.

State news outlet The China Daily said the drills were “part of a series of Beijing’s responses to the US arms sales to Taiwan as well as a warning to the [Taiwanese president] Lai Ching-te authorities in Taiwan”, in an editorial on Monday.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Lin Jian, also told reporters on Monday that the exercises were “a punitive and deterrent action against separatist forces who seek Taiwan independence through military buildup, and a necessary move to safeguard China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity”.

Justice Mission 2025 marks the sixth time China has staged large-scale military drills around Taiwan since then-US Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in 2022.

A key focus of the “Justice Mission 2025” exercises will be “anti-access and area denial capability” to ensure that Taiwan cannot receive supplies from allies like Japan and the US during a conflict, according to William Yang, senior analyst for Northeast Asia at the Crisis Group.

They will also include simulating a blockade of Taiwan’s major ports in the north and south, and taking control of strategically important waterways, like the Bashi Channel and Miyako Strait, through which Taiwan imports much of its energy supplies, Yang said.

China’s Eastern Theatre Command released a poster on Tuesday, titled “Hammer of Justice: Seal the Ports, Cut the Lines”, showing large metal hammers hitting the port of Keelung in the north and the port of Kaohsiung in the south.

Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said it had tracked 130 air sorties by Chinese aircraft, 14 naval ships and eight “official ships” between 6am on Monday (22:00 GMT, Sunday) and 6am on Tuesday (22:00 GMT, Monday).

The exercises were also monitored by Taiwanese coastguard ships and an undisclosed number of naval vessels, according to Taiwan’s Defence Ministry.

DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,

Beijing to impose sea, air restrictions for 10 hours, starting at 00:00 GMT on Tuesday, in five zones around Taiwan.

China has deployed air, navy and rocket troops to the waters around Taiwan for drills that its military said were aimed at testing combat readiness and delivering a “stern warning” against “separatist” and “external interference” forces.

The announcement on Monday came amid anger in Beijing over an $11.1bn weapons sale to Taiwan by the United States, as well as a statement by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who suggested that the Japanese military could get involved if China were to attack the self-governed island.

Beijing considers Taiwan as part of its territory and has pledged to take control of the island by force if necessary.

In a statement, the Chinese military’s Eastern Theatre Command said it was dispatching army, navy, air force and rocket force troops to five zones around Taiwan for its “Just Mission 2025”, beginning on Monday.

The live-fire exercises will begin on Tuesday in the Taiwan Strait and areas to the north, southwest, southeast and east of the island, it said.

Shi Yi, a spokesperson for the Eastern Theatre Command, said the activities will focus “on ​training for maritime and aerial combat readiness patrols, gaining ‌integrated control, sealing off key ports and areas and conducting multi-dimensional deterrence”. The drills serve “as a serious warning to ‘Taiwan Independence’ separatist forces and external interference forces”, he added.

A separate statement with a map showed five large zones surrounding the island where “live firing activities will be organised” from 8am to 6pm (00:00-10:00 GMT) on Tuesday. “For the sake of safety, any irrelevant vessel or aircraft is advised not to enter the afore-mentioned waters and airspace,” the statement said.

The planned drills mark China’s sixth major round of war games since 2022 – after then-US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan – and were described by the state-owned Xinhua news agency as “a legitimate and necessary action to safeguard China’s sovereignty and national unity”.

During the drills, Shi said Chinese vessels and aircraft will approach Taiwan “in close proximity from different directions” and troops of multiple services will “engage in joint assaults to test their joint operations capabilities”, according to Xinhua.

While the Chinese military has practised port blockades around Taiwan during war games last year, this marks the first time it has publicly stated that drills around the island are aimed at deterring foreign military intervention.

Taiwan’s government condemned the drills.

A presidential office spokesperson urged China not to misjudge the situation and undermine regional peace, and called on Beijing to immediately halt what they described as irresponsible provocations.

“In response to the Chinese authorities’ disregard for international norms and the use of military intimidation to threaten neighbouring countries, Taiwan expresses its strong condemnation,” said Karen Kuo, the spokesman for the presidential office.

The island’s defence ministry said two Chinese military aircraft and 11 ships had been operating around the island over the last 24 hours, and that Taiwan’s military was on high alert and poised to carry out “rapid response exercises”.

That particular drill is designed to move troops swiftly in case China suddenly turns one ​of its frequent drills around the island into an attack.

“All members of our armed forces will remain highly vigilant and fully on ‌guard, taking concrete action to defend the values of democracy and freedom,” it said in a statement.

The exercises come after the US announced earlier this month that it had approved $11.1bn in arms sales to Taiwan in the largest ever weapons package for the island. The move drew a protest from China’s Ministry of National Defence and warnings that the military would “take forceful measures” in response.

Beijing last week also imposed sanctions against 20 US defense-related companies and 10 executives over the move.

In an interview aired on Sunday, Taiwanese President William Lai Ching-te told Sanli E-Television that the island must continue to raise the cost of aggression and strengthen its indigenous defence capabilities to deter China, stressing that peace can only be secured through strength.

“If China sets 2027 as the year to be ready for an invasion of Taiwan, then we have only one choice: to keep raising the difficulty so that China can never meet that standard. Taiwan will naturally remain safe,” Lai said.