Chinese drill near Taiwan seen as test run for blockade, message to US
By Military Times Staff
Jan 8, 2026, 05:40 AM
The Taiwanese guided-missile destroyer Ma Kong, left, monitors the Chinese guided-missile destroyer Xi'an, right, near the Asian island nation in 2024. (Taiwan Defense Ministry via AP)
NEW TAIPEI CITY, Taiwan — China’s two days of military drills in waters surrounding Taiwan last month came closer than ever to the self-ruled island’s coast and were the largest-scale exercises in more than three years of exercises partly aimed at deterring a U.S. role in an actual war, analysts say.
A rocket artillery unit participating in the People’s Liberation Army Eastern Theater Command’s “Justice Mission 2025” drills fired shells into the sea into the contiguous zone 24 nautical miles off Taiwan’s coast on Dec. 30, the National Defense Ministry told domestic media.
The unit’s fire took place during PLA drills in five tracts of ocean — described overall as practice for blocking major Taiwanese air and sea routes with aircraft and naval assets, but this time without aircraft carriers. Carriers have joined other drills and are seen helping to ward off external intervention in the event of conflict.
https://www.defensenews.com/global/asia-pacific/2026/01/08/chinese-drill-near-taiwan-seen-as-test-run-for-blockade-message-to-us/
