Taiwan remained on high alert on Wednesday after China staged massive military drills around the island the pr
evious day, keeping its emergency maritime response center running as it monitored Chinese naval maneuvers, the coast guard said.
The exercises named “Justice Mission 2025” saw China fire dozens of rockets towards Taiwan and deploy a large nu
mber of warships and aircraft near the island, in a show of force that drew concern from allies in the region and the west.
Beijing announced late on Wednesday the completion
of the drills, saying its military would remain on high alert and continue to strengthen their combat-readiness.
In reply, Taiwan’s defense ministry said that as there were still a significant number of Chinese planes and v
essels in its response area, its armed forces would maintain an “appropriate contingency mechanism.” It did not elaborate.
“The Chinese Communist Party’s aggressive and militaristic provo
cations endanger regional security and stability, and have been condemned by democratic allies in the international community,” it said in a statement.
China’s President Xi Jinping struck a familiar tone on Taiwan in his New Year address shortly after Beijing’s announ
cement, repeating last year’s warning to what it regards as forces seeking Taiwan’s independence.
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“Compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are bound by blood ties thicker than water, and the historical tre
nd toward national reunification is unstoppable,” he said in a speech televised by state broadcaster CCTV.
China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, and it has not ruled out using force to take it un
der Chinese control. Taiwan, which rejects China’s claims, condemned the latest drills as a threat to regional security and a blatant provocation.
Chinese ships were moving away from Taiwan by Tuesday night, a
ccording to Kuan Bi-ling, head of Taiwan’s Ocean Affairs Council.
“The maritime situation has calmed down, with ships and vessels gradually departing,” she said in a post on Facebook late on Tuesday.
A Taiwan coast guard official told Reuters that all 11 Chinese coa
st guard ships had left waters near Taiwan and were continuing to move away. A Taiwan security official said emergency response centers for the military and coast guard remained active.
There were more than 90 Chinese naval and coast guard vessels in the region, with many of them deployed in the
South China Sea, near Taiwan and the East China Sea, two security officials in the region told Reuters earlier.
The officials, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter, said the size of China’s maritime deployment had steadily increased since early this week.
China is in the middle of what has become a busy season for military exercises.
Taiwan’s defense ministry on Wednesday said 77 Chinese military airc
raft and 25 navy and coast guard vessels had been operating around the island in the past 24 hours.
Among them, 35 military planes had crossed the Taiwan Strait median line that separates the two sides, it added.