Beijing continues military drills in Taiwan Strait for second day

SCMP | April 1, 2025, 8:26 p.m. | Original

An image released by the Taiwanese national defence ministry of the PLA aircraft carrier Shandong at an undisclosed location near Taiwan on Tuesday. Photo: EPA

in Hong Kong and in Beijing

The People’s Liberation Army is continuing its military exercises in the central and southern Taiwan Strait with a focus on Wednesday of blockade enforcement.

The PLA’s Eastern Theatre Command spokesman Senior Colonel Shi Yi said the drills – code-named Strait Thunder-2025A – are focused on tasks that include verification and identification, warning and expulsion, interception, and detention.

The aim is to test the troops’ capabilities in area control, joint blockade and precision strikes, according to Shi. The PLA did not say when this latest round of drills near Taiwan will end, nor whether more can be expected later this week.

Beijing opened the large-scale military and coastguard exercises around the self-ruled island on Tuesday, as “a stern warning and a strong deterrent to the separatist forces of Taiwan independence”.

Beijing views Taiwan as part of China to be reunited, by force if necessary. Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as independent. But Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the island by force and is committed to supplying weapons for its defence.

According to the Taiwanese defence ministry’s social media account, 76 PLA sorties and 15 warships, as well as four official ships, were detected near the island as of 6am on Wednesday morning.

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