Taipei claims that China's maritime movements surrounding Taiwan are the biggest in decades.

As it keeps an eye on what it claims is an increase in Chinese military activity in the Taiwan Strait and Western Pacific, Taiwan's Defence Ministry announced Tuesday that China has sent its largest regional maritime deployment in decades.

 Following President Lai Ching-te's unannounced visits to Hawaii and the US territory of Guam earlier this month, which infuriated Beijing, Taiwan has been on high alert since Monday in preparation for anticipated military exercises.

Taiwan announced on Monday that several groups of Chinese coast guard and naval ships were circling the Taiwan Strait and operating in local waterways. Beijing has not recognised the extensive deployment mentioned by Taipei or announced military exercises.


Although the self-governing democracy of Taiwan has never been under its control, the ruling Communist Party of China maintains that it is its territory and has not ruled out annexing the island. It considers unofficial exchanges between Taipei and Washington to be an infringement on its sovereignty. China's territorial claims over Taiwan are rejected by its authorities.

 During a briefing Tuesday at the Taiwan Defence Ministry, Lt. Gen. Hsieh Jih-Sheng, deputy head of the General Staff for Intelligence, stated that a "astonishing" number of Chinese vessels have been placed at a size that "could block external forces."

Hsieh stated that the geographic reach of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) naval deployment extended beyond the first island chain and that it was not just aimed at Taiwan. The strategically important chain of islands, which includes sections of the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, and Taiwan, has long been a crucial pillar in the US's efforts to keep its position as the leading force in the Pacific.

The latest actions of the PLA put Taiwan under more than just military pressure. In particular, its naval forces have greatly improved their posture in the Western Pacific and around Taiwan," Hsieh stated.

In the case of a Chinese invasion, Taiwan's survival may be threatened by China's capacity to bar foreign forces from entering the first island chain, which might prevent outside forces trying to assist the island from using its navy.

According to the ministry, the maritime deployment was the biggest since China started hosting massive war games near Taiwan in the middle of the 1990s.

Authorities in Taiwan also saw a notable rise in PLA aircraft flying over the island, identifying 47 of them in the 24 hours prior to Tuesday morning at 6 a.m.


The PLA has set aside seven areas of airspace east of Taiwan's coastal provinces of Zhejiang and Fujian, according to a notification released by Taiwanese officials on Monday.

According to the ministry's briefing on Tuesday, no live-fire drills have yet been conducted in the areas to Taiwan's north and northwest, respectively.