China held a two-day military exercise around Taiwan – “Justice Mission 2025”, which is the sixth round of large-scale military exercises since then US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in 2022.

Exercises include 10 hours of on-site fire drill On Tuesday, Chinese troops practiced encircling Taiwan and blockading its main port.

What happened during Justice Mission 2025?

Shi Yi, spokesman for China’s Eastern Theater Command, said the drills began on Monday in the sea and airspace north, southwest, southeast and east of Taiwan’s main island.

During the exercise, China deployed naval destroyers, frigates, fighter jets, bombers, drones and long-range missiles to simulate seizing control of Taiwan’s airspace, blockading its ports, and striking critical infrastructure, “moving ground targets” and maritime targets, Shi said.

The exercise also simulated a blockade of Taiwan and its main ports of Keelung and Kaohsiung.

Tuesday’s live-fire exercise was held at five regions across Taiwan from 8am to 6pm local time (00:00 GMT and 10:00 GMT), according to the Eastern Theater Command. Chinese troops fired long-range rockets into the sea surrounding the island, according to videos posted by the military on social media.

Taiwan’s coast guard said seven rockets were fired into two drilling areas around the main island.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said it had tracked 130 aerial sorties by Chinese aircraft, 14 naval ships and eight “official vessels” between 6 a.m. Monday and 6 a.m. Tuesday.

In 24 hours, 90 aircraft flew into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), an area of ​​land and sea monitored by Taipei, the second largest such intrusion since 2022.

How is this exercise different from last time?

Taiwan Security Watch researcher Jaime O’Connell said that “Justice Mission 2025” is the largest war game since 2022 in terms of coverage.

“These areas are very, very large, especially the southern and southeastern areas around Taiwan, which actually violate territorial waters,” he told Al Jazeera, referring to areas within 12 nautical miles (22 kilometers) of Taiwan’s coast. “This is a big upgrade from previous exercises.”

Unlike in the past, they also explicitly focused on blocking Taiwan, sending a strong message to Taipei and its unofficial allies, especially the United States and Japan.

“This clearly demonstrates China’s ability to conduct anti-access/area denial (anti-access air denial), ensuring that Taiwan can be isolated from the world and that other countries such as Japan, the Philippines or the United States cannot intervene directly,” O’Connell said.

The blockade would not only affect the delivery of weapons systems but also critical imports such as natural gas and coal on which Taiwan relies for nearly all of its energy needs. It would also disrupt vital global shipping routes through the Taiwan Strait.

Huang Alexander, chairman of the Taiwan Strategy and Wargaming Research Association, told Al Jazeera that the exercises are similar to those held after Pelosi’s visit in August 2022.

“This exercise actually disrupted international civil aviation routes and maritime routes. In previous exercises, they tried to avoid this, but this time it actually disrupted air and sea traffic,” he said.

The drills also put pressure on Taiwan’s maritime and transportation links with Kinmen and Matsu islands, which are closer to mainland China.

Why is China holding the exercise now?

China has a history of holding military drills to express its anger at Taiwan and its allies, but large-scale drills have become more frequent since Pelosi’s visit.

Beijing claims Taiwan as a province and accuses the United States of interfering in its internal affairs by continuing to sell arms to Taipei and support its “separatist” government of President Lai Ching-te.

Washington does not officially recognize Taiwan, whose official name is the Republic of China, but has pledged to help Taipei defend itself under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act and the 1982 Six Assurances.

“Justice Mission 2025” was launched just days after Washington approved a record $11.1 billion in arms sales to Taiwan.

China’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday that the exercise was “a punitive and deterrent action against separatist forces seeking ‘Taiwan independence’ through military build-up, and a necessary measure to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.” Beijing Sanctions 30 US companies and individuals Regarding arms sales.

Experts also say the drills are linked to a separate but related diplomatic dispute between China and Japan.

In November, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi angered Beijing by saying that an attack on Taiwan would pose an “existential threat” to Japan. She said the situation would legally allow Japan to exercise its “right to collective self-defense” and deploy troops.

How did Taiwan respond to the drill?

Taiwan canceled more than 80 domestic flights on Tuesday and warned that more than 300 international flights may be delayed as flights are rerouted during live-fire exercises.

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said the coast guard monitored the drills near the outlying islands, and an unspecified number of naval vessels were deployed nearby. Taipei also monitors all incursions into its air defense identification zone, which includes the Taiwan Strait, parts of China’s coast and waters surrounding Taiwan.

“(Beijing’s) highly provocative behavior seriously undermines regional peace and stability and also poses significant security risks and disruption to shipping vessels, trade activities and shipping routes,” Defense Minister Wellington said in a statement on Tuesday.

Ku described the exercises as a form of “cognitive warfare” aimed at “weakening Taiwan’s combat capabilities through a combination of military and non-military means, and creating divisions and conflicts within Taiwanese society through tactics of sowing discord.”

What is the U.S. response to the military exercises?

U.S. President Donald Trump has so far remained silent on the military drills, telling reporters on Monday that he was “not concerned.”

“I have a great relationship with President Xi and he hasn’t told me anything about it,” Trump said when asked about the drills at a news conference, Reuters reported. “I don’t believe he would do it,” he added, appearing to refer to the prospect of actual military action against Taiwan.

William Young, senior Northeast Asia analyst at the International Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera that Trump may avoid talking too much about the Just Mission 2025 exercises because he hopes to meet President Xi Jinping in April to discuss the U.S.-China trade deal. “This is a diplomatic strategy to ensure that the U.S. response does not immediately undermine the temporary trade truce between the United States and China,” Yang said.

“I think that’s very consistent with the way he personally and his administration have approached Taiwan by trying to deprioritize public statements,” he said.