HONG KONG —Chinafired rockets, massed assault ships and flew bombers aroundTaiwanon Tuesday, simulating a military blockade in an apparent warning to the United States against supporting the Beijing-claimed island.
The second day of thelarge-scale war games,called "Justice Mission 2025," saw the Chinese military encircle Taiwan in its biggest such exercise in eight months. PresidentDonald Trumpsaid Monday that Chinese PresidentXi Jinpinghad not told him about the exercises but that they did not worry him.
"They've been doing naval exercises for 20 years in that area," he told reporters. Analysts said the intense activity and accompanying rhetoric were aimed at demonstrating China's ability to pressure and isolate Taiwan, but also at deterring U.S. involvement.
Though the U.S. has no official relations with Taiwan, it is the self-governing democracy's most important international backer and is legally bound to provide it with defensive weapons. The issue has long strained U.S.-China relations, though it has taken a backseat under Trump amid a trade war between the world's two largest economies.
The Chinese Ministry of Defense says the two-day exercises are necessary to defend national security and territorial integrity and "serve as a stern warning against the 'Taiwan independence' separatist forces and interference by external powers."
China has not ruled out the use of force to seize Taiwan, an island of 23 million people. The Taiwanese government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims and strongly condemned the exercise, criticizing China's military activities as "groundless and provocative." It said its forces were on high alert.
"China has disregarded the international community's expectations for peace, insisting instead on undermining regional stability through military intimidation," PresidentLai Ching-tesaid Tuesday in a Facebook post.
Though China did not specify a reason for the exercises, they are most likely in response to an$11.1 billion U.S. arms packagefor Taiwan that was announced this month and is thought to be the largest ever, said Ava Shen, a China associate at the Eurasia Group consulting firm.
"Because of this unprecedented amount, I think China felt that it needs to respond," she told NBC News in a phone interview.
Chinese Foreign MinisterWang Yisaid Tuesday that Beijing must "resolutely oppose and forcefully counter" actions such as the U.S. arms package.
Chinese ground forces on Tuesday conducted long-range live-fire drills in waters north of Taiwan that "achieved desired effects," said Senior Capt. Li Xi, spokesperson for the People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theater Command.
The command said it used bomber aircraft and warships to conduct drills that included strikes on maritime targets as well as anti-air and anti-submarine operations in waters to the north and south of Taiwan. The drills "tested capabilities of sea-air coordination and integrated blockade and control," it said.
According to Chinese state media, the Type 075 amphibious assault ship was also deployed for the first time.
In addition to the simulated blockade and joint combat readiness, this week's drill includes a new focus on "all-dimensional deterrence outside the island chain," Shen said, a reference to deterring U.S. military involvement in a potential Taiwan invasion.
U.S.-China relations are in a state of truce after Trump and Ximet in South Koreain October, during which they agreed to a one-year extension of lower reciprocal tariffs. Trump has said he will visit China in April, followed by a visit to the U.S. by Xi later in the year.
Both leaders "are invested in maintaining stable relations," Shen said, and China's latest exercises are unlikely to change that.
Though Trump sees Taiwan as an "element" of U.S.-China relations, it is not his main concern, she said.
"His top priority is to reach some kind of trade agreement with China, and he doesn't want any other thing to get in the middle of that," Shen said.
Trump has notably refrained from expressing public support forJapanafter its prime minister,Sanae Takaichi, outraged Beijing last month by saying that a Chinese attack on Taiwan couldprompt a Japanese military response.
Similarly, Beijing initially responded to the new U.S. arms package for Taiwan withsanctions on 20 U.S. defense-related companies and 10 executivesthat are mostly symbolic.
Taiwan's Ministry of National Defensesaid Tuesday on Xthat it had detected 130 Chinese military aircraft and 22 naval and coast guard vessels in the 24 hours to 6 a.m.
This is China's first major exercise around Taiwan since "Strait Thunder," atwo-day operation held in Aprilafter Lai called China a "foreign hostile force."
China also held two major exercises last year called "Joint Sword" — one after Lai wasinaugurated in Mayand one after hisfirst National Day speechin October.
It is China's sixth major round of war games since 2022, whenNancy Pelosi, the House Speaker at the time,visited Taiwanover Beijing's objections. During those exercises China fired missiles over Taiwan, which it has not done so far this time.
But this is the first time since 2022 that China announced "maritime exclusion zones" through which planes and boats were not allowed to pass during the live-fire drills on Tuesday. Five of the seven zones overlap with Taiwan's 12-nautical-mile territorial waters, according to Eurasia Group.
"The overall trend is very clear, which is that China is trying to push the boundary of how close can it get its military planes and vessels to Taiwan," Shen said.
While this week's exercise is in line with China's intensifying military pressure on Taiwan, it should not be viewed as a sign that China plans a full-on attack on the island in the near future, she said.
"I think a Chinese invasion of Taiwan still remains very unlikely," Shen said. "The primary objective of this exercise is for China to warn the U.S. about its further support of Taiwan."
