Trump says he’s not worried about China’s blockade drills of Taiwan
A passenger looks at an LED board showing delayed flights during the Chinese military live-fire drills around Taiwan, in Taipei, Taiwan, Tuesday. China is conducting live-fire drills in five designated maritime and airspace zones around Taiwan. Photo by Richie B. Tongo/EPA
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.