U.S. reaffirms commitment to Taiwan as Beijing conducts live fire drills in East China Sea

The U.S. on Wednesday reaffirmed its commitment to supporting Taiwan as China extended to a second day its large-scale military exercises off the coast of the democratically governed island.

“In the face of China’s intimidation tactics and destabilizing behavior, the United States’ enduring commitment to our allies and partner, including Taiwan, continues,” Tammy Bruce, U.S. Department of State spokesperson said in a statement Tuesday evening stateside.

China’s army, navy and rocket forces on Tuesday launched a joint exercise, with the military describing it as a “stern warning” against forces looking to undermine peace in the Taiwan Strait.

“China’s aggressive military activities and rhetoric toward Taiwan only serve to exacerbate tensions and put the region’s security and the world’s prosperity at risk,” the State Department said, adding that the U.S. “opposes unilateral changes to the status quo, including through force or coercion.”

Chinese military said it has been practicing assaults on maritime and ground targets and blockade exercises to test the joint operation capabilities of its troops.

On Wednesday, it carried out precision strikes on simulated targets such as ports and energy facilities in the latest exercise code named “Strait Thunder-2025 A,” according to PLA’s Senior Colonel Shi Yi.

The Defense Ministry in Taipei said it detected 76 aircraft, 15 navy vessels and 4 official ships operating around the island as of 6 a.m. That marked the largest scale of aircraft deployment by PLA since the “Joint Sword-2024B” war exercises last October when Taiwan said China used a record number of military aircrafts.

The armed forces in Taiwan have employed aircraft, navy ships and coastal missile systems in response.

Beijing seeks to “intimidate the Taiwanese by reminding them of China’s substantial military power,” said David Silbey, a professor at Cornell University specializing in military history and policy, adding that the drills will help Beijing prepare for any actual conflict.

The latest maneuvers are viewed by some as signs of Beijing’s anger with President Lai. In a speech last month, Lai labelled the mainland as “foreign hostile forces” and proposed legal and economic measures to counter Beijing’s “infiltration” effort in the island.

The delayed timing of the exercises — more than two weeks after the speech — is likely due to a flagship business summit in Beijing over the past two weeks, where Chinese top officials met with multinational firms’ executives, analysts at Eurasia Group said in a note.

“An exercise in the Taiwan Strait while foreign CEOs are in town would have produced a chilling effect against Beijing’s push to attract foreign investment,” the advisory firm said.

“Beijing’s willingness to moderate cross-strait tensions is eroding,” the analysts said, cautioning that possibilities for a “cross-strait crisis” this year are rising.

China views Taiwan as its own territory — a claim that Taiwan has rejected — and has vowed to retake the island, by force if necessary.

Beijing has held several rounds of military drills around Taiwan and sent fighter jets to enter its airspace since President Lai took office nearly a year ago.