Taipei: President Lai Ching-te on Tuesday called for unity among Taiwanese citizens as China’s recent large-scale military drills surrounding Taiwan continued into their second day. Lai accused Beijing of escalating regional tensions in a manner not befitting a responsible world power. “The Chinese Communist Party has continued to escalate military tension in the region, which is not the behavior of a responsible world power,” Lai stated in a Facebook post.
According to Focus Taiwan, President Lai emphasized the importance of maintaining peace in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region, noting that it is an international consensus. He assured that Taiwan, as a responsible regional partner, will persist in upholding this goal. “Taiwan will not provoke a confrontation, nor seek conflict with China,” Lai added.
The president extended his gratitude to the service personnel and coast guards for their professional response to what he described as threats and coercion from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Meanwhile, Premier Cho Jung-tai reassured the public that the government is prepared to handle all contingencies. He urged citizens not to be alarmed by the ongoing drills and called on opposition parties to quickly review and approve the central government budget proposal for fiscal year 2026, along with the proposed eight-year NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.85 billion) special defense budget.
The PLA announced a new series of joint exercises around Taiwan, named “Justice Mission-2025,” aimed as a stern warning to ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces, according to a statement by PLA Eastern Theater Command spokesperson Senior Colonel Shi Yi. The PLA also planned live-fire drills in waters and airspace around Taiwan and cautioned vessels and aircraft to avoid the designated areas.
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) reported that segments of the five zones marked by the PLA for live-fire exercises encroach on Taiwan’s territorial waters. On Tuesday, the MND confirmed that the PLA’s Eastern Theater Command had conducted live-fire drills with rockets landing in a designated zone north of Taiwan, near the 24-nautical-mile boundary. The Taiwanese military continues to employ joint surveillance measures to monitor these exercises closely.
