Taiwan Strait Tensions Rise as PLA Conducts Largest Naval Exercise of 2025

72-Hour Drill Involves 90 Vessels and 150 Aircraft

The People's Liberation Army conducted its largest Taiwan Strait exercise of 2025 from November 20-22, deploying an estimated 90 naval vessels and 150 military aircraft in operations encircling Taiwan. Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense reported 67 PLA aircraft crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait during the 72-hour period, the highest three-day total since the August 2022 crisis.

The exercise, designated "Joint Sword-2025B" by Chinese state media, included live-fire drills in six designated zones east of Taiwan, simulated blockade operations, and anti-submarine warfare exercises. The PLA Eastern Theater Command said the drills were "a stern warning to separatist forces and external interference."

Taiwan's Response

Taiwan's armed forces activated combat readiness protocols and deployed naval vessels to monitor PLA movements. The Ministry of National Defense scrambled 380 fighter sorties over the three days, primarily F-16V and Mirage 2000 aircraft. Coast Guard Administration vessels were repositioned to protect critical infrastructure including undersea cables and port facilities.

President Lai Ching-te convened a National Security Council meeting on November 20 and issued a statement saying Taiwan "will not be intimidated by military coercion." He urged calm, noting that military exercises had become "a recurring pattern that Taiwan's professional armed forces are fully prepared to manage."

International Reaction

The United States sailed the guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey through the Taiwan Strait on November 22, a transit that the U.S. 7th Fleet called "routine" but which Beijing denounced as "provocative." Japan's Ministry of Defense confirmed that Maritime Self-Defense Force vessels tracked PLA naval movements near the Miyako Strait.

G7 foreign ministers issued a joint statement expressing "serious concern" and reaffirming opposition to "unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force." The European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs called for "restraint and dialogue."

Economic Impact

Taiwan's stock exchange fell 2.8% on November 20 before recovering most losses by session end. Shipping companies reported brief disruptions as commercial vessels diverted around the exercise zones, adding 12-18 hours to transit times for routes passing east of Taiwan.

Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the Indo-Pacific program at the German Marshall Fund, said the exercise was "larger in scale but not fundamentally different in concept from previous operations." She noted that the PLA appeared to be refining logistics for a potential blockade scenario rather than rehearsing an amphibious invasion.