China surrounds Taiwan with warships and aircraft in large-scale drills

BEIJING – China conducted one of the most intense single-day military exercises in recent years on December 29, 2025, deploying a large-scale air and naval force that effectively encircled Taiwan According to Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense, the drills involved more than 100 Chinese aircraft, 13 warships, and 14 ships from the China Coast Guard and Maritime Safety Administration In a significant escalation, 90 of the aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, a de facto boundary that has helped maintain regional stability for decades The scale and composition of the forces signal a sophisticated capability to compress Taiwan’s defensive space and challenge the status quo in the region

The most strategically significant aspect of the drills was the integrated deployment of People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) warships alongside “white-hull” China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels This blending of military and ostensible law enforcement assets creates a “gray-zone” situation, blurring the lines between an act of war and a peacetime operation. This tactic complicates the decision-making process for Taiwan and its international partners, as responding to a CCG vessel is operationally and politically different from engaging a naval destroyer. The approach suggests an effort to create options for controlling access to the island without declaring a formal and escalatory military blockade.

These exercises demonstrate Beijing’s capacity to implement a full encirclement of Taiwan, with potential implications for disrupting vital air and sea lanes. By deploying non-military government vessels, China could claim any future interdiction of commercial shipping is a law enforcement matter related to customs or safety inspections This places the burden of potential escalation on any intervening party, such as the United States. The drills serve as a powerful signal of Beijing’s evolving strategy and capabilities, posing a complex challenge to regional security and the deterrence models designed to prevent conflict in the Taiwan Strait.