Beijing deployed its navy and coast guard to the Philippine Sea and South China Sea to practice the isolation of the island of Taiwan. The operation, which involved more than 100 vessels at its peak, was characterized by Taiwan’s Defense Minister Wellington Koo as “area denial” drills, while other officials in Taipei described the unannounced activity as “silent intimidation.” In a rare operational move, the maneuvers coordinated surface forces from China’s Eastern, Northern, and Southern Theater Commands into a single far-seas operation to simulate a naval blockade.
The exercises included the simultaneous deployment of the aircraft carriers Liaoning and Fujian and were accompanied by a surge in aerial activity, including 49 aircraft sorties detected on Nov 3. While the presence of Chinese ships around the island has since decreased to approximately 70 vessels as of Nov 13, analysts from the Institute for the Study of War note that the scale of the drills surpassed the Justice Mission 2025 exercise. The failure to officially announce the maneuvers is a departure from recent norms, which analysts suggest is meant to demonstrate China’s ability to sever Taiwan’s international shipping and air access without warning.
