Taiwan stays on high alert as China fire dozens of rockets

Taiwan remained on high alert on Wednesday after China staged massive military drills around the island the previous day, keeping its emergency maritime response centre running as it monitored Chinese naval manoeuvres, the coast guard said.

The exercises named “Justice Mission 2025” saw China fire dozens of rockets towards Taiwan and deploy a large number of warships and aircraft near the island, in a show of force that drew concern from Western allies.

Beijing announced late on Wednesday the completion of the drills, saying that the military will remain on high alert and continue to strengthen combat readiness.

Taipei condemned the drills as a threat to regional security and a blatant provocation.

Chinese ships were moving away from Taiwan, according 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 all 11 Chinese coast guard ships had left waters near Taiwan and were continuing to move away. A Taiwan security official said emergency response centres for the military and coast guard stayed 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 in a large maritime show of force, two security officials in the region told Reuters earlier in the day.

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 is traditionally a busy season for military exercises.

Taiwan’s defence ministry on Wednesday said 77 Chinese military aircraft 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.

(Reuters)