Presidential Office Spokesperson Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said on Thursday that President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) immediately ordered relevant agencies to closely monitor and respond to China’s military drill near Taiwan’s waters, reassuring the public that the government has committed its full attention to the situation.
On Wednesday, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry reported that 45 Chinese military aircraft and over a dozen warships conducted a "joint combat readiness drill" around Taiwan. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) unilaterally designated a drill zone without prior warning in waters approximately 74 kilometers off the coasts of Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, where key Taiwanese naval and air bases are located, claiming it would conduct "shooting training."
The ministry condemned the exercise, warning that such actions threaten international flight and shipping safety, further reinforcing its stance that China remains the greatest threat to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the broader Indo-Pacific region.
Kuo reiterated that maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region is a shared global interest, yet China continues to engage in unilateral acts of intimidation and harassment in international waters, including off the coasts of Vietnam, the Philippines, and Australia. She called on China to cease its provocative actions and return to rules-based international order.