China stages unannounced Pacific drills in 'silent intimidation' of Taiwan, officials say
Photo: Army Recognition (file photo)China carried out a large, unannounced military exercise across the western Pacific and around Taiwan in early November, in what officials in Taipei have described as a campaign of "silent intimidation" aimed at pressuring Taiwan and other governments before major international meetings.
A senior Taiwan security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said China's military and coast guard had at one point massed more than 100 vessels in the region early this month, conducting drills that included simulated attacks on other militaries and cities including Taiwan's. The deployment was larger than "Justice Mission 2025," China's last formally named drills targeting Taiwan nearly a year ago and one of the largest Chinese naval deployments to date, the official said.
"It is a silent exercise — and in effect, silent intimidation," the official said, according to Reuters.
Taiwan's Defence Minister Wellington Koo said this week that Beijing was carrying out "area denial" drills in the western Pacific involving an aircraft carrier and other naval formations — exercises aimed, in Taipei's reading, at stopping U.S. or other allied forces from coming to the island's aid should Beijing attack. The Institute for the Study of War in Washington said China appeared to be demonstrating its ability to blockade Taiwan any time it wished.
Beijing has said the activity was routine training not directed against any country. China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control, though it says it prefers "peaceful reunification." Chinese President Xi Jinping gave a major policy speech about Taiwan on Thursday, urging peaceful reunification while making no mention of using force.
The drills come as China has stepped up its military pressure on Taiwan over the past five years, drawing condemnation from Taipei and heightening concern in Western capitals about the potential for conflict. By Friday, two Taiwan security officials said about 70 vessels were operating within the first island chain, as the deployment decreased in scale.
The timing places the show of force just before next week's APEC leaders' summit in Shenzhen, where U.S. President Donald Trump and Xi are expected to meet for the third time this year. The United States, Australia, the Philippines and Japan — the grouping known as the "Squad" — agreed in Manila late last month to establish a Combined Coordination Center aimed at easing joint planning between those nations in the event of a fight around Taiwan.
For now, few officials or regional analysts predict any immediate direct military action by Beijing. But the drills show Beijing is intent on ratcheting up the pressure, hoping Washington or others will pull back — a signal aimed well beyond Taiwan.
Sources: Reuters, "China stages unannounced Pacific drills in 'silent intimidation' of Taiwan, officials say" (Nov. 13, 2026, full text verified); Reuters, "China's 'area denial' drills send message to Taiwan and well beyond" (Nov. 13, 2026, full text verified); The Japan Times, as cited in reporting on the drills (Nov. 13, 2026). Beijing says the exercises were routine training not directed at any country.
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