US urges restraint as China drills near Taiwan

Washington, Jan 2 (IANS) The United States voiced concern over China’s largest-ever military exercises around Taiwan, warning that Beijing’s actions and rhetoric risk unnecessarily escalating tensions in the region and undermining stability across the Taiwan Strait.

Responding to reports of the drills, US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott said China should step back from military pressure and pursue dialogue.

“China’s military activities and rhetoric toward Taiwan and others in the region increase tensions unnecessarily,” Pigott said in a statement issued on January 1. “We urge Beijing to exercise restraint, cease its military pressure against Taiwan, and instead engage in meaningful dialogue.”

The statement came as China concluded “Justice Mission 2025,” a large-scale military exercise conducted from December 29 to 31 involving coordinated operations by the People’s Liberation Army’s army, navy, air force, and rocket forces. The drills tested joint combat capabilities in a simulated noose-style blockade around Taiwan, including scenarios focused on sealing off key ports, carrying out precision strikes, and disrupting supply routes.

Taiwanese authorities said they detected 77 Chinese military aircraft and 17 naval vessels during the exercise period. Taiwan responded by scrambling fighter jets and implementing defensive measures, including deploying obstacles such as explosive barrels at river mouths, as part of its readiness posture.

The scale and timing of the drills prompted concern among several US allies and partners. Governments and institutions in the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Australia expressed unease over rising military pressure in the Taiwan Strait and warned that such actions increase the risk of miscalculation.

Beijing described the exercises as a warning to what it called separatist forces and linked them to recent developments in US-Taiwan defense ties, including an $11.1 billion American arms sale to Taipei. Chinese officials have repeatedly characterized military activity around Taiwan as a response to external interference.

Reiterating Washington’s position, Pigott said, “The United States supports peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and opposes unilateral changes to the status quo, including by force or coercion.”

US officials have consistently stressed that stability in the Taiwan Strait carries global significance because of its role in international trade, supply chains, and regional security. The latest drills, described as the largest of their kind, have intensified scrutiny of China’s military posture toward Taiwan.

China’s President Xi Jinping, in his New Year’s address, reaffirmed the goal of reunification with Taiwan, a message delivered as the exercises concluded. Taiwan’s government has rejected Beijing’s sovereignty claims and maintains that the island’s future can only be determined by its people.

Taiwan has been governed separately from mainland China since 1949 and has developed its own democratic political system, military, and economy. Beijing considers Taiwan a breakaway province and repeatedily asserted its goal to integrate it with the mainland.

In a recent report, the independent Congressional Research Service said tensions involving China’s military activities in the Indo-Pacific extend beyond the Taiwan Strait and form part of a broader pattern of coercion and pressure in contested maritime regions.

The report notes that US officials have long urged that disputes in the region be settled without coercion and in accordance with international law, while maintaining freedom of navigation and overflight.

The CRS report also underscores that the United States, while recognizing the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal government of China, continues to operate under long-standing policy frameworks that support peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and oppose the use of force to alter existing arrangements. These policies, the report notes, have guided US engagement in the region for decades and remain central to Washington’s approach amid rising regional tensions.