Donald Trump has said he is not worried by China’s live-fire military drills surrounding Taiwan and that he has a great relationship with the Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who “hasn’t told me anything about it”.
The US president made the comments one day into the surprise attack simulation launched by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on Monday, and which continued into Tuesday with live missile launches into the Taiwan Strait.
The PLA, which is the armed wing of China’s ruling Communist party, said it had deployed destroyers, frigates, fighters, bombers, drones and long-range missiles “in close proximity” to Taiwan on Monday to test “sea-air coordination and precise target hunting and neutralisation”, including attacks on submarines and other maritime targets.
Beijing claims Taiwan is a Chinese province and is preparing to militarily annex it, with the aim of being capable of invasion by 2027, according to US intelligence from several years ago. In the meantime it deploys an array of military and non-military forms of harassment and intimidation to convince or coerce Taiwan to accept “peaceful reunification”.
In the 24 hours to Tuesday morning Taiwan’s defence ministry said it had detected at least 14 navy vessels, 14 coast guard ships, one surveillance balloon, and 130 war planes and drones around Taiwan as part of the exercise China has dubbed “Justice Mission 2025”.
Asked about the drills on Monday, Trump said he had a “great relationship with President Xi, and he hasn’t told me anything about it”.
“I certainly have seen it … I don’t believe he is going to be doing it,” Trump said, appearing to refer to an actual invasion. “Nothing worries me.”
The US is Taiwan’s most significant backer in its resistance to Beijing’s annexation plans, but Trump’s stance – especially during his second term – has been inconsistent. Trump met with Xi in October but said Taiwan “didn’t come up”. He is expected to visit Beijing for a more formal meeting next year.
On Tuesday morning a volley of live rockets was seen being fired from Pingtan, a Chinese coastal region closest to Taiwan’s main island. A short time later the PLA said in a statement: “At 9:00 am, December 30, the ground forces of the PLA Eastern Theater Command conducted long-range live fire drills in the waters to the north of the Taiwan Island and achieved desired effects.”
Taiwan’s defence ministry said the impact sites were “scattered around Taiwan’s 24 nautical mile zone”.
The defence minister, Wellington Koo, said the drills disregarded international norms and “clearly aim to achieve cognitive warfare and deplete Taiwan’s combat capabilities … and to create division and conflict within Taiwanese society”.
The PLA and Chinese state media said these exercises focused on simulating a blockade of major ports in Taiwan, and repelling “external foreign interference”. An attack on Taiwan by Beijing is largely expected to draw in the US to defend Taiwan, and potentially Japan, according to recent statements by the country’s prime minister which infuriated Beijing.
This week’s drills are the sixth and largest to target Taiwan since 2022, when major exercises surrounded Taiwan in retaliation for a visit by the then speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi.
Such exercises take extensive planning and are usually part of general training, but the PLA often links them to perceived acts of provocation. This week Chinese officials and state media specifically cited a recent approval by the US government for a record $11bn weapons sales to Taiwan.
“In response to the continuous provocations by pro-independence forces in Taiwan and the large-scale US arms sales to Taiwan, we must of course resolutely oppose and forcefully counter them,” China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, said in a speech in Beijing.
An editorial in the official state outlet, Xinhua, said the drills were “a clear reminder for the DPP that the trend of national reunification is unstoppable, and that the will of the people cannot be defied”.
“The DPP’s fanciful attempts to pursue ‘Taiwan independence’ by relying on US support will only heighten tensions in the Taiwan Strait and push the island’s residents toward the brink of conflicts,” it said.
However, Taiwan – where the vast majority of people reject the prospect of Chinese rule and support the status quo – said it was clear that China was the aggressor.
Taiwan’s president, Lai Ching-te, said on Tuesday that China was not acting as a responsible world power. Taiwan would defend its sovereignty, he said.
“We will act responsibly and not escalate conflict or stir up disputes.”
