Asia
China launches major drills around Taiwan following record US arms deal
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) launched exercises around Taiwan immediately after Washington approved its largest-ever arms sale to the island, describing the move as “legitimate and necessary” to safeguard national unity.
Senior Colonel Shi Yi, spokesperson for the PLA Eastern Theater Command, stated the drills serve as a warning to “separatist forces” and external interference.
He noted that the exercises, dubbed “Mission of Justice 2025,” were conducted in the waters and airspace north, southwest, southeast, and east of the Taiwan Strait and the main island of Taiwan.
Shi said the drills were carried out by army, navy, air, and rocket forces attached to the Eastern Theater Command.
In a separate statement, the Command announced that live-fire exercises would take place on Tuesday between 8 am and 6 pm.
“This is a stern warning to ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces and a legitimate and necessary action to safeguard China’s sovereignty and national unity,” Shi said.
He added that the exercises would include combat readiness patrols by air and sea, blockades of key ports and areas, and deterrence beyond the “island chain.”
According to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, the PLA sent fighter jets, bombers, drones, and other assets to “air and sea areas in the central part of the Taiwan Strait” and tested “precision strike capabilities by conducting drills targeting land-based mobile targets” in coordination with long-range firepower.
The Eastern Theater Command stated that destroyers and fighter jets were also deployed east of Taiwan for scenarios involving strikes on maritime targets, regional air control, and anti-submarine drills.
Beijing views Taiwan as part of China, in line with United Nations resolutions, and aims for reunification, by force if necessary.
Most countries, including the US and Japan, do not recognize Taiwan as an independent state, though Washington continues to supply arms and provide military and material support to the island.
Message to the US
State media characterized Monday’s large-scale drills as a message to both Taiwan and the US.
Major General Meng Xiangqing, a national security expert at the PLA National Defense University, told China Military Bugle, a social media account run by the PLA’s media center, “The People’s Liberation Army has many strategic options to punish independence forces in Taiwan and deter the US. And they can turn this exercise into war at any time.”
According to the South China Morning Post, Fu Zhengnan, an expert at the PLA Academy of Military Sciences, cited “recent frequent collusion between the US and Taiwan, which is extremely serious in nature,” as a primary reason for this week’s drills.
Speaking in a video published on Yuyuan Tantian, a social media account controlled by CCTV, Fu stated that the latest weapons package proposed by Washington for Taiwan consists mostly of offensive weapons, violating US-China joint communiqués signed between 1972 and 1982.
Fu said the arms sale would effectively turn Taiwan’s military system into a “natural extension” of America’s, which would “increase the risk of direct and confrontational conflict between China and the US.”
“Ignoring our repeated warnings, the US and Taiwan have engaged in serious cooperation and provocation,” Fu said, adding that the PLA drills were a “legitimate and legal mandatory response.”
$11.1 Billion arms sale
The exercises took place immediately after Washington approved the arms sale to Taiwan. Beijing described the decision as “blatant interference in China’s internal affairs.”
The US State Department announced on December 17 that it had approved an $11.1 billion arms package for Taiwan. This is known as the largest arms sale in the island’s history. The sale requires approval by the US Congress.
The package includes $4 billion for 82 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and $4 billion for 60 self-propelled howitzers. Also included are “tactical mission” software, Javelin anti-tank missiles, helicopter parts, and kits to refurbish Harpoon anti-ship missiles, totaling $3 billion.
On Monday, the Department of North American and Oceanian Affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry accused the US of “militarily intervening in and obstructing China’s reunification” by sending warships to the Taiwan Strait seven decades ago.
In a statement released on social media, it was stated that the US “owes China for China’s complete reunification” and Washington was asked to acknowledge the “serious consequences of arms sales to Taiwan.”
It was stated that conflict with Beijing over Taiwan is “not in the interest of the US,” and Washington was urged to respect China’s “core interests.”
Series of exercises
The PLA’s drills are the second large-scale war games held near Taiwan this year. The PLA previously held large-scale exercises in April immediately after Taiwan leader William Lai Ching-te declared the Chinese mainland a “hostile force” and announced a series of security measures, including re-establishing the military court system in Taiwan.
Meng from the PLA National Defense University said this week’s exercises were conducted in areas vital for key supplies such as energy and civilian transport routes.
He noted that a drill was conducted near Keelung Port and that the PLA could effectively “close off” this strategic port in northern Taiwan.
Meng said PLA activities in the south near Kaohsiung could enable a “pincer movement against [Taiwan’s] most vital military base,” referring to Zuoying, the island’s largest naval base.
He also said exercises were conducted in an area east of Taiwan viewed as a “combat protection zone” to “prevent separatists from escaping while simultaneously blocking outside aid from arriving.”
Reaction to Lai from Taiwan’s main opposition
The Taiwan administration also launched “urban resilience” drills to test its readiness for war under pressure from the PLA.
In a social media post on Monday, the Taiwan administration asserted that it “strongly condemns the PRC’s irrational provocations and opposes the PLA’s actions that undermine regional peace.”
It stated that the Taiwan military was conducting “rapid response drills.”
The island’s opposition leader, Cheng Li-wun, criticized Lai in a radio interview on Monday, saying he “constantly provokes [Beijing] and crosses red lines,” adding that this “will only lead to a dead end, dragging Taiwan’s 23 million people down with him.”
As before, coast guard vessels from the Chinese mainland were also deployed during the PLA drills on Monday. The coast guard released footage showing its ships approaching Taiwan from the north, southwest, and east; several vessels were visible off the east coast.
The Fujian coast guard, located in the mainland province facing Taiwan, said it patrolled waters surrounding Taiwan and near the Matsu and Wuqiu islands, which are close to Fujian but administered by Taipei.
Beijing said it had conducted law enforcement patrols in waters east of Taiwan in response to a decision by Japan and the Philippines to launch talks on maritime boundary delimitation.
According to a statement from the China Coast Guard, a flotilla led by the vessel Daishan carried out law enforcement patrols “in accordance with the law” on Monday.
China Coast Guard spokesperson Jiang Lue said the operation was “a necessary action” in response to Japan and the Philippines “unilaterally announcing the start of negotiations on maritime delimitation in waters east of China’s Taiwan Island.”
“Such an announcement seriously infringes upon China’s territorial sovereignty and its maritime rights and interests,” Jiang said.
“We urge Japan and the Philippines to immediately cease all illegal actions that violate China’s sovereignty and rights,” he added.
Jiang also said the coast guard would continue strengthening its control and management of the relevant waters and that China would take concrete measures to “resolutely safeguard territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.”
The United States and most of its allies, including Japan and the Philippines, do not recognize Taiwan as an independent state and acknowledge it as part of China. The United Nations has also adopted resolutions reflecting this position. However, Washington continues to provide arms to Taiwan as part of its broader efforts to counter China and encourages its allies to do the same.
Following a summit in Tokyo between Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the two countries said in a joint statement issued on Thursday that they had agreed to begin “formal negotiations” to delimit their exclusive economic zones (EEZs) and continental shelves.
Beijing condemned the planned talks as “completely illegal and invalid” and swiftly lodged formal diplomatic protests with both Tokyo and Manila.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Friday: “The so-called delimitation negotiations are entirely illegal, invalid and void. They will have no impact whatsoever on China’s claims or on China’s exercise of its legitimate rights in the area east of Taiwan Island.”
The latest escalation comes at a time when relations between Beijing and both Tokyo and Manila are already strained. Japan and the Philippines are treaty allies of the United States, while China remains engaged in separate territorial disputes with Japan in the East China Sea and with the Philippines in the South China Sea.
As US attention and resources have increasingly shifted toward the war involving Iran, and as the White House has made the Western Hemisphere a strategic priority, Japan and the Philippines have stepped up diplomatic engagement in the region commonly referred to as the Indo-Pacific.
That effort has included building closer security and defence ties with other countries, prompting Beijing to accuse them of encouraging bloc confrontation in the region.
Japan and the Philippines do not share a maritime boundary. However, their seabed claims could overlap because both countries seek to extend their legal continental shelves beyond 200 nautical miles, equivalent to 370 kilometres or 230 miles.
The overlapping area lies east of Taiwan, southwest of Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and north of the Philippines’ Batanes Islands.
Yang Xiao, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, China’s highest-ranking state-affiliated think tank, said Taiwan’s EEZ and continental shelf are part of the area under discussion.
“These are China’s rights and are not something that the two sides can negotiate among themselves,” Yang said.
In an interview published on Sunday by Yuyuan Tantian, a social media account affiliated with state broadcaster CCTV, before the China Coast Guard announced the patrols, Yang said Beijing would take “historic and unprecedented” countermeasures against Tokyo and Manila.
“Since they are negotiating in a three-party overlapping zone, we can also take further steps to advance our jurisdiction in the waters east of Taiwan,” Yang said.
“If the other side insists on reckless and destructive actions, we will inevitably introduce new countermeasures.”
Yang described the waters east of Taiwan as a vital maritime area for the island’s economic activities.
“If these waters are divided between Japan and the Philippines, that would clearly harm the interests of the people living on Taiwan Island,” he added.
As artificial intelligence reshapes industrial structures in Japan and South Korea, stock market rankings are being redrawn. SoftBank Group has overtaken Toyota Motor to become Japan’s most valuable listed company.
SoftBank shares have surged as the global artificial intelligence rally gathers momentum, lifting the technology conglomerate’s market capitalisation above that of Toyota for the first time in more than two decades.
The shift reflects a broader reordering of Japan’s equity market. Automakers, alongside banks, steelmakers, energy companies and other traditional heavy industries, are losing ground to chipmakers and companies linked to artificial intelligence.
SoftBank shares jumped 14% on Monday, reaching a new record high. The company’s market value climbed to 48 trillion yen, or $301 billion, making it the most valuable company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Toyota had long held the top position, with a market capitalisation of approximately 45 trillion yen. The last time SoftBank surpassed Toyota was in March 2000, at the peak of the dot-com bubble.
SoftBank’s rapid rise has been driven by strong earnings performance and its substantial investment in ChatGPT developer OpenAI.
The Japanese company reported net profit of 1.82 trillion yen, or $11.4 billion, for the first three months of 2026, 3.5 times higher than in the same period a year earlier. The group is also increasing its investment in OpenAI, completing a $10 billion investment in April and committing to invest an additional $20 billion later this year. Total investment is expected to reach roughly $65 billion.
According to The Wall Street Journal, OpenAI plans to file for an initial public offering and aims to list in the United States as early as September. Some media reports suggest the company could seek to raise $60 billion through the offering, potentially valuing it at more than $1 trillion. Such a transaction could become the largest initial public offering in history.
Investors expect the IPO to significantly boost SoftBank’s investment gains. Those expectations have helped drive the technology group’s share price higher. SoftBank shares have risen about 127% since early April.
The company is also planning to invest up to 14 trillion yen in the construction of data centres in France.
Chinese President Xi Jinping met Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Beijing, where the two leaders discussed bilateral ties and oversaw the signing of multiple cooperation agreements. Xi also awarded Vucic the Friendship Medal of the People’s Republic of China.
The meeting between Xi Jinping and Aleksandar Vucic began with an official welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
The two leaders then proceeded to formal talks. Xi said China and Serbia had achieved “positive results” since jointly launching the construction of a “China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era” in 2024.
Xi said the partnership had not only benefited the two peoples but had also set an example for international relations.
The Chinese president described relations between China and Serbia as an “iron friendship” based on deep historical ties and mutual trust.
Calling on both sides to strengthen exchanges, deepen practical cooperation and continue supporting each other on issues concerning their core interests, Xi also said the two countries should align their development strategies and advance cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative. In this context, he pointed to transport, energy and infrastructure projects.
Xi also called for expanding cooperation in emerging sectors such as artificial intelligence, the digital economy, green energy and advanced manufacturing.
Aleksandar Vucic congratulated China on the start of implementation of its 15th Five-Year Plan. Vucic also expressed confidence in China’s future development under Xi Jinping’s leadership.
The Serbian president said Belgrade attached great importance to relations with China and firmly supported Beijing on issues concerning China’s core interests.
Vucic thanked Chinese companies for their contributions to Serbia’s economic development and infrastructure construction.
Saying the two countries had made notable progress since establishing their comprehensive strategic partnership, Vucic added that cooperation had expanded across numerous sectors.
The Serbian president also praised China’s role in international affairs, saying Beijing approached smaller countries on the basis of equality and respect and defended international law.
Following the talks, the two leaders witnessed the signing of more than 20 cooperation agreements covering politics, trade, science and technology, education, legal affairs and culture.
The two sides also issued joint statements on steadily advancing the construction of a China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era and jointly supporting the implementation of four global initiatives.
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