Key facts
- A senior Taiwan security official said China massed more than 100 vessels in the region in early November.
- The official said the deployment was larger than "Justice Mission 2025", China's last named drills targeting Taiwan.
- A Chinese submarine launched an intercontinental ballistic missile from the Yellow Sea into the mainland, the official said.
- Taiwan defence minister Wellington Koo said China was conducting "area denial" drills involving an aircraft carrier.
- Around 70 Chinese vessels were operating within the first island chain on Friday, two Taiwan officials said.
China carried out a large, unannounced military exercise across the western Pacific and around Taiwan in early November, according to a Reuters report citing a senior Taiwan security official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The official said China's military and coast guard at one point massed more than 100 vessels in the region, conducting drills that included simulated attacks on other militaries and on cities including Taiwan's.
The official said the deployment was larger than "Justice Mission 2025", China's last formally named drills targeting Taiwan nearly a year earlier. A Chinese submarine also launched an intercontinental ballistic missile from the Yellow Sea into the Chinese mainland during the drills, the official said. The official described the campaign as "silent intimidation" and said the drills involved coordinated naval forces from China's eastern, northern and southern theatre commands, a scale that suggested rehearsals beyond a Taiwan blockade scenario.
Taiwan's defence ministry referred Reuters to comments by minister Wellington Koo, who said China was carrying out "area denial" drills in the western Pacific involving an aircraft carrier and other naval formations. China, which has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control, has said the carrier is on "routine" exercises not directed at any country. China's defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
Chinese President Xi Jinping gave a policy speech on Thursday urging peaceful "reunification" and made no mention of using force. A foreign intelligence source told Reuters the absence of a public announcement appeared deliberate, allowing Beijing to apply military pressure while avoiding a diplomatic backlash, and that the latter part of the year, when weather is typically calmer, is when China normally carries out drills.