China launched missiles and deployed dozens of fighter jets, navy ships and coastguard vessels around the island on Monday and Tuesday in live-fire drills.
There has been a chorus of international criticism of China's drills, including from Japan, Australia and European countries.
Japan said Wednesday that China's exercises "increase tensions" across the Taiwan Strait, while Australia's foreign ministry condemned the "destabilising" military drills.
The European Union on Tuesday said the military activity "endangers international peace and stability".
Beijing on Wednesday hit back at the remarks.
"These countries and institutions are turning a blind eye to the separatist forces in Taiwan attempting to achieve independence through military means," foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters at a news briefing.
"Yet, they are making irresponsible criticisms of China's necessary and just actions to defend its national sovereignty and territorial integrity, distorting facts and confusing right and wrong, which is utterly hypocritical."
Lin said Beijing appreciated countries such as Russia, Pakistan and Venezuela expressing their support for China.
"We want to reiterate China's unwavering resolve for safeguarding national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity," he added.
"Any egregious provocative act that crosses the line on the Taiwan issue will be met with a firm counter from China."
Japan says China's military drills around Taiwan 'increase tensions'
Tokyo (AFP) Dec 31, 2025 -
Japan said Wednesday that China's military exercises around Taiwan "increase tensions" across the Taiwan Strait, and that it had expressed its "concerns" to Beijing.
"The recent military exercises conducted by the Chinese military around Taiwan constitute actions that increase tensions across the Taiwan Strait, and the Government of Japan has conveyed its concerns to the Chinese side," said foreign ministry press secretary Toshihiro Kitamura.
"It has been the consistent position of the Government of Japan that it expects that the issue surrounding Taiwan will be resolved peacefully through dialogue," Kitamura said in a statement.
"Peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait are important for the international community as a whole. We will continue to monitor related developments with strong interest," he added.
China's drills this week involved dozens of fighter aircraft and navy vessels conducting live-fire drills, simulating a blockade of Taiwan's key ports and assaults on maritime targets.
China claims Taiwan as part of its sovereign territory and has refused to rule out military action to seize the island democracy.
Japan's relations with China have worsened sharply in recent weeks after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested in November that Tokyo could intervene militarily in any Chinese attack on Taiwan.
Taiwan coastguard says Chinese ships 'withdrawing' after drills
Taipei (AFP) Dec 31, 2025 -
Chinese warships and coastguard vessels are withdrawing from waters around Taiwan, the island's coastguard said Wednesday, with Beijing's military drills appearing to be "over".
China launched missiles and deployed dozens of fighter jets, navy ships and coastguard vessels around Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday in live-fire drills aimed at simulating a blockade of the self-ruled island's key ports and assaults on maritime targets.
Taipei slammed the war games as "highly provocative and reckless" and said they failed to impose a blockade.
China's Communist Party has never ruled democratic Taiwan, but Beijing claims the island of 23 million people is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to annex it.
"The warships and coastguard vessels are withdrawing, but a few are still lingering outside the 24-nautical-mile line," Hsieh Ching-chin, deputy director-general of Taiwan's coastguard, told AFP, indicating the "drills should be over".
Taiwan's coastguard has maintained a deployment of 11 ships at sea because China Coast Guard vessels "haven't completely left the area yet" and "we can't let our guard down", he said.
Beijing has not yet publicly declared the drills to be finished.
Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te warned Wednesday that Chinese drills targeting the island "are not an isolated incident" and pose "significant risks" to the region.
"China's authoritarian expansion and escalating coercion pose significant risks to regional stability and also impact global shipping, trade and peace," he said at a promotion and rank conferment ceremony for military officers in Taipei.
China's drills followed a bumper round of arms sales to Taipei by the United States, Taiwan's main security backer, and comments from Japan's prime minister that the use of force against Taiwan could warrant a military response from Tokyo.
- International criticism -
There has been a chorus of international criticism of China's drills.
Japan said Wednesday that China's military exercises "increase tensions" across the Taiwan Strait, and that it had expressed its "concerns" to Beijing.
Australia's foreign ministry condemned the "destabilising" drills, saying it had raised concerns with Beijing counterparts.
And the Philippines' defence department said it was "deeply concerned" over drills that threatened to "undermine regional peace and stability".
Beijing said criticism of its exercises was "irresponsible".
"These countries and institutions are turning a blind eye to the separatist forces in Taiwan attempting to achieve independence through military means," foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a news briefing Wednesday.
"Yet, they are making irresponsible criticisms of China's necessary and just actions to defend its national sovereignty and territorial integrity, distorting facts and confusing right and wrong, which is utterly hypocritical."
China said on Tuesday it had deployed destroyers, frigates, fighters and bombers "to conduct drills on subjects of identification and verification, warning and expulsion, simulated strikes, assault on maritime targets, as well as anti-air and anti-submarine operations".
A statement from its armed forces said the exercises in waters to the north and south of Taiwan "tested capabilities of sea-air coordination and integrated blockade and control".
The drills were held as US ambassador to China David Perdue met with his counterparts from Australia, India and Japan, which are part of the Quad group, seen as a counter to Beijing.
"The Quad is a force for good working to maintain a free and open Indopacific," Perdue said Tuesday in a post on X, alongside a photo of the four ambassadors in Beijing.
China fires missiles on second day of military drills around Taiwan
Taipei (AFP) Dec 30, 2025 -
China launched missiles and deployed dozens of fighter aircraft and navy vessels around Taiwan on Tuesday for a second day of live-fire drills aimed at simulating a blockade of the self-ruled island's key ports and assaults on maritime targets.
Taipei, which slammed the two-day war games as "highly provocative and reckless", said the manoeuvre failed to impose a blockade on the island.
China claims Taiwan as part of its sovereign territory and has refused to rule out military action to seize the island democracy.
AFP journalists in Pingtan -- a Chinese island at the closest point to Taiwan's main island -- saw a volley of rockets blast into the air at around 9:00 am (0100 GMT) on Tuesday, leaving trails of white smoke.
At least 10 were launched in quick succession, sending a booming sound reverberating across the sky and drawing tourists towards the seafront to snap photos and videos on their phones.
Taiwanese authorities counted 27 rockets fired by Chinese forces on Tuesday.
China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) said in a statement that it had "conducted long-range live fire drills in the waters to the north of the Taiwan Island and achieved desired effects".
The show of force follows a bumper round of arms sales to Taipei by the United States, Taiwan's main security backer, and comments from Japan's prime minister that the use of force against Taiwan could warrant a military response from Tokyo.
China's top diplomat Wang Yi said on Tuesday that Beijing would "forcefully counter" large-scale US weapons sales to Taiwan, adding that any attempt to obstruct China's unification with the island "will inevitably end in failure".
Foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian called the drills a "punitive response to Taiwan independence separatist forces and a necessary action to defend national sovereignty".
Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te expressed his "strongest condemnation" and said Beijing was "deliberately undermining regional stability through military intimidation".
"This is a blatant provocation," he wrote on Facebook, adding that Taipei would not escalate the situation.
- 'Live-fire training' -
China said on Tuesday it had deployed destroyers, frigates, fighters and bombers "to conduct drills on subjects of identification and verification, warning and expulsion, simulated strikes, assault on maritime targets, as well as anti-air and anti-submarine operations".
A statement from the PLA's Eastern Theater Command said the exercises in the waters to the north and south of Taiwan "tested capabilities of sea-air coordination and integrated blockade and control".
State broadcaster CCTV reported that a core theme of the exercises was a "blockade" of key Taiwanese ports, including Keelung in the north and Kaohsiung in the south.
However, senior Taiwanese military official Hsieh Jih-sheng told reporters that the intended blockade "essentially did not happen".
"The main reason they did this was to make the public believe that they had achieved the goal they were pursuing," he said.
Chinese authorities published a map of five large zones around Taiwan where the war games would take place. They were due to finish at 6:00 pm (1000 GMT) on Tuesday, although there was not yet any confirmation they had ended.
Taiwan said the zones, some of which are within 12 nautical miles of its coast, had affected international shipping and aviation routes.
Hundreds of flights were either cancelled or delayed, according to the island's Civil Aviation Administration.
Taiwan's defence ministry said on Tuesday it had detected at least 130 Chinese military aircraft near the island, as well as more than 50 vessels including 27 navy ships, over the course of the drill.
The Taiwanese coastguard said it deployed 14 ships to monitor the naval activity, "employing a one-on-one shadowing approach to forcefully deter the vessels".
- Stoic reaction -
Taiwan's Military News Agency said forces conducted several drills in response to the Chinese exercise, including one in the Taipei area focusing on the deployment of river obstacles and rapid troop response.
Many ordinary Taiwanese reacted stoically.
"There have been so many drills like this over the years that we are used to it," said fishmonger Chiang Sheng-ming, 24, at a market in Taipei.
"If you stand your ground, there's nothing to be afraid of," added fruitseller Tseng Chang-chih, 80.
"War? Impossible. It's just posturing. If they really attacked Taiwan, they would have to pay a price."
China's military last held large-scale drills involving live firing around Taiwan in April.
Beijing said this month it would take "resolute and forceful measures" to safeguard its territory after Taiwan said the United States had approved an $11 billion arms sale.
US President Donald Trump said he was not concerned about the drills, appearing to brush aside the possibility of counterpart Xi Jinping ordering an invasion of Taiwan.
"I don't believe he's going to be doing it," Trump said.
On Tuesday, the European Union slammed China over the drills, saying the exercise "endangers international peace and stability", and urging restraint from actions that could escalate tensions.
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