Overview
- PLA Eastern Theater Command began multi‑service maneuvers using live ammunition, with destroyers, frigates, fighters, bombers and drones operating around the island.
- Live-fire events are scheduled in five designated zones on Tuesday from 8:30 a.m. local time for roughly ten hours with temporary sea and airspace closures.
- The exercise includes simulated blockades of key ports, with Chinese state media highlighting Keelung in the north and Kaohsiung in the south as principal objectives.
- Taiwan condemned what it called military intimidation, put forces on heightened alert, sent larger coast guard and naval vessels, authorized frontline units to respond, and reported 89 Chinese aircraft plus 28 naval and coast guard ships near the island.
- China characterizes the drills as a warning to independence advocates and to foreign military interference, with the timing linked to a $11.1 billion U.S. arms package and recent Japanese remarks, and analysts note the growing tempo is narrowing warning time.