Global & US Headlines
China’s “Justice Mission-2025” Encirclement Drills Trigger Global Rebuke and Taiwan’s 5-Year Defence Surge
Between 29–31 Dec 2025 the PLA staged its widest live-fire drills to date around Taiwan, pushing rockets inside the 24-nm zone and spurring President Lai’s 1 Jan 2026 vow for a US$40 billion defence build-up as Lithuania, Australia, New Zealand and others lodged formal protests.
Focusing Facts
- Taiwan’s MoD reported 27 PLA rockets fired on 30 Dec 2025, 10 splashing inside Taiwan’s contiguous zone— the closest impact since exercises began in 2022.
- Lai’s New-Year address confirmed an eight-year, US$40 billion special budget and a target to raise military spending to 5 % of GDP by 2030.
- The drills followed the U.S. notification on 18 Dec 2025 of a record US$11.1 billion arms package to Taipei.
Context
Beijing’s barrage echoes the 1995-96 Third Taiwan Strait Crisis, when missiles also bracketed the island to deter a pro-sovereignty candidate; the difference three decades later is the PLA’s capacity to sustain multi-domain, multi-day encirclement. The episode fits a long arc: from the 1954 & 1958 Quemoy shellings, through the 1979 U.S. Taiwan Relations Act, to today’s competition where great-power signalling relies more on grey-zone pressure and economic coercion than outright invasion—yet each drill normalises a new baseline of PLA presence. Over a century horizon, whether Taiwan can remain de-facto autonomous hinges less on any single volley than on cumulative shifts in regional alignments, defence industrial capacity, and domestic political cohesion on both sides of the Strait; this week’s rocket trails are another data point in that slow, structural contest.
Perspectives
Taiwanese media and pro-Taiwan outlets
e.g., Focus Taiwan, CNA — Present the PLA drills as an alarming escalation that threatens regional security and proves Taiwan must boost its defences because sovereignty is non-negotiable. Being government-adjacent or sympathetic, they foreground international support and big defence budgets while skating over how Taipei’s own moves or U.S. arms sales might also heighten tensions. ( Focus Taiwan (CNA English News) , CNA )
Chinese state-owned media
e.g., China.org.cn — Depict the exercises as a legitimate, necessary step to safeguard national sovereignty against separatists and meddling foreigners, branding outside criticism as hypocritical. As state propaganda organs, they aim to justify Beijing’s coercive power, erase Taiwan’s separate identity and deflect blame, ignoring how the drills intimidate civilians or risk miscalculation.
International wire-service reporting in Western outlets
e.g., AP in Beaumont Enterprise, Reuters in BusinessWorld — Describe China’s war games as the latest in a series of provocative shows of force, juxtaposing them with Taiwan’s vows to defend itself and sizeable U.S. arms deals. Reliant on official statements and conflict-centred news values, they may sensationalise the showdown and echo Washington/Taipei talking points, giving less space to de-escalatory or Chinese civilian perspectives.
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