Overview
- Reporters on China’s Pingtan island observed at least ten rockets launched into the Taiwan Strait during day-two live-fire drills.
- Taiwan’s defense ministry recorded 130 PLA aircraft in 24 hours along with 14 navy ships and eight other government vessels operating around the island.
- China said the exercise rehearses an integrated sea‑air blockade and strikes on maritime targets, naming the ports of Keelung and Kaohsiung and deploying destroyers, frigates, bombers, fighters and drones.
- Five designated danger zones prompted ten-hour air and sea closures, and Taiwan’s aviation authority reported canceled flights to Kinmen and Matsu and roughly 850 international services affected.
- China framed the drills as a warning tied to a U.S. arms package of about $11.1 billion as Foreign Minister Wang Yi vowed to counter the sales, while President Lai Ching-te condemned the exercises but said Taiwan would not escalate.