U.S. calls for restraint as China conducts military drills near Taiwan

The U.S. on Thursday called on China to exercise restraint and engage in dialogue following Beijing’s military exercises near Taiwan.

State Department Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott said that China’s military activities and rhetoric “increase tensions” and urged Beijing to cease its military pressure against Taiwan, while engaging in meaningful dialogue. He added that the United States “supports peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and opposes unilateral changes to the status quo, including by force or coercion.”

The drills, named Justice Mission 2025, began on Monday, shortly after the United States approved a one-time arms sale to Taipei worth over $11 billion.

China’s PLA Eastern Theater Command announced on Wednesday that the exercises had been completed successfully. Senior Captain Li Xi, the command spokesperson, said the drills tested integrated joint operations, strengthened combat readiness, and aimed to deter Taiwan independence movements and external intervention, while safeguarding national sovereignty.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian described the exercises as a “punitive and deterrent response to Taiwan independence separatist forces who attempt to seek independence through military buildup.”

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence (MND) said its armed forces had adjusted their force posture in response, maintaining a measured and controlled approach to ensure sovereignty, democracy, and public safety. The MND released a video titled “Life Goes On,” showing deployments and monitoring of PLA ships, and emphasising that daily life in Taiwan continued as normal despite the drills.

Chinese President Xi Jinping did not mention the exercises in his New Year message, though he highlighted Taiwan in other contexts, emphasising the shared “bond of blood and kinship” and declaring that reunification with Taiwan was a “trend of the times” and “unstoppable.”

Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te said Beijing “has continued to escalate military tension in the region, which is not the behaviour of a responsible world power,” according to Focus Taiwan. He added that Taiwan “will not provoke a confrontation, nor seek conflict with China.”

China regards Taiwan as a “breakaway province,” while Taipei maintains that it has operated independently since 1949.

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