NANJING/BEIJING, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command on Monday launched large-scale joint military drills around Taiwan Island under the codename "Justice Mission 2025."
The exercises involve Army, Navy, Air Force, and Rocket Force units operating in the Taiwan Strait and waters to the north, southwest, southeast, and east of the island, said Shi Yi, spokesperson for the PLA Eastern Theater Command.
It is a stern warning against "Taiwan independence" separatist activities and external interference, Shi said, adding that the drills are a legitimate and necessary action to safeguard China's sovereignty and national unity.
The drills will focus on subjects of sea-air combat readiness patrol, joint seizure of comprehensive superiority, blockade on key ports and areas, as well as all-dimensional deterrence outside the island chain, according to Shi.
APPROACHING TAIWAN FROM MULTIPLE DIRECTIONS
On Monday, with vessels and aircraft approaching Taiwan Island in proximity from different directions, troops of multiple services engaged in joint assaults to test their joint operations capabilities.
In the waters and airspace in the middle areas of the Taiwan Strait, the theater command employed fighters, bombers, and unmanned aerial vehicles in coordination with long-range rocket fires to conduct drills focused on striking mobile ground targets.
To the east of Taiwan Island, destroyers, frigates, fighters, and bombers carried out drills on the assault of maritime targets, seizure of regional air superiority, as well as submarine hunting and anti-submarine operations. The theater command also dispatched bomber task forces to conduct far-seas combat readiness patrols in this area, focusing on long-distance raids and joint precision strikes.
Meanwhile, in the waters and airspace to the north and southwest of the island, destroyers, frigates, fighters, bombers, and unmanned aerial vehicles were employed -- again in coordination with long-range rocket fires -- to conduct live-fire training. These exercises covered hunting and neutralizing targets in both waters and airspace, simulated strikes on ground targets, and live firing against maritime targets.
The operations tested relevant forces' multiple capabilities, such as those of rapid maneuvers, executing systemic blockade and control, precision strikes on key targets, precise target hunting and neutralization, seizure of dominance and air superiority, and the troops' integrated coordination.
The PLA Eastern Theater Command also issued a notice and a sketch map outlining the areas for its joint military drills, stating that from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday, live firing activities will be organized in the designated waters and airspace.
The PLA will never hesitate in striking against "Taiwan independence" and promoting reunification. It will continue to conduct operations countering separatism and foreign interference, resolutely safeguarding China's sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity, said Zhang Xiaogang, spokesperson of China's Ministry of National Defense.
CLOSER, TIGHTER SURROUNDING TAIWAN
"Justice Mission 2025" is PLA's latest large-scale military exercise around Taiwan following the "Strait Thunder-2025A" in early April. In 2024, the PLA conducted two military drills around Taiwan, codenamed "Joint Sword-2024A" and "Joint Sword-2024B," respectively.
"'Justice Mission 2025' is highly specific in its intent -- to punish 'Taiwan independence' and deter U.S. interference," Meng Xiangqing, a professor of the National Defense University, said in media interviews.
From "Joint Sword" to "Strait Thunder" and now "Justice Mission," the PLA has demonstrated its growing hard-power capabilities, he added.
Meng said the troop encirclement of Taiwan Island is becoming "closer and tighter," reflecting new operational features such as comprehensive coverage, the elimination of blind spots, and integrated blockade-and-strike capabilities.
Zhang Chi, another National Defense University professor, said that the drills are more clearly targeted -- specifically at the primary corridor through which external forces might provide support to the DPP authorities -- demonstrating the PLA's firm resolve and robust capability to sever that channel and deter foreign interference.
Regarding the Eastern Theater Command's explicit mention of "live-fire shooting," Meng said that it demonstrated the PLA's ability to fight and win at any time. "In plain terms: we can strike whenever we choose, however we choose. We're ready to fight upon arrival, capable of victory, and certain of success."
TARGET "TAIWAN INDEPENDENCE," WARN EXTERNAL INTERFERENCE
The PLA drills are specifically targeted at "Taiwan independence" separatist activities and external interference, said Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office.
Chen said the drills aim to curb collusion between "Taiwan independence" forces and external elements that endanger peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and fundamentally safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Mainland scholars believed that the drills fully demonstrate China's firm resolve, unwavering will, and strong capability to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and represent a legitimate and necessary step to uphold peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and advance the cause of national reunification.
Wang Yingjin, director of the cross-Strait relations research center of the Renmin University of China, said that by colluding with U.S. politicians who profit from arms sales, Taiwan leader Lai Ching-te laid bare his political opportunism, while pushing the island to the brink of danger and seriously aggravating tensions across the Strait.
Chen Guiqing, a research fellow at the Institute of Taiwan Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that the drills demonstrated a forceful measure to resolutely punish "Taiwan independence" separatist activities and deter external interference, and a necessary move to make China's position clear and draw firm red lines. ■
