(Deutsche Welle Chinese website) Taiwan Defense Minister Gu Lixiong confirmed in an interview with Zhongtian News and other media in the Legislative Yuan on Tuesday (November 10) that China's Liaoning aircraft carrier and other maritime formations in theaters are conducting area denial exercises in the Western Pacific waters. Gu Lixiong pointed out that this area denial exercise has the intention of military deterrence and undermines the peace and stability of the Indo-Pacific region. Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense has closely monitored relevant developments and will continue to monitor and respond appropriately through joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and cooperation with allies.
"Anti-Access/Area Denial" (A2AD for short) refers to preventing external forces from intervening in conflicts. In the case of Taiwan, this means that Beijing would prevent U.S. or other allied forces from rushing to Taiwan's aid in the event of an attack. A research report by Taiwan's official think tank National Defense Security Research Institute pointed out that the People's Liberation Army's "anti-access/area denial" capabilities have formed a severe force projection and oppression situation in the Taiwan Strait, the first island chain and some areas extending outward. The academy even believes that China is trying to make the first island chain an area where U.S. military operations are restricted.
Last week, Taiwan's Defense Ministry reported a significant increase in the number of Chinese military aircraft operating around Taiwan, although China has not officially announced any exercises. Wu Zhaoxie, secretary-general of Taiwan’s National Security Council, posted on the social platform
According to information released by the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense on November 9, on November 2, Chinese military aircraft around the Taiwan Strait once reached 49 sorties, of which 36 were in the south of Taiwan. They then fell back day by day. On the 6th, Chinese military aircraft and ships totaled 20 sorties (ships), on the 7th, a total of 24 sorties (ships), on the 8th, a total of 12 sorties (ships), and on the 9th it dropped to 1 sortie.
The Institute for War Studies (ISW) and the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), both Washington think tanks, pointed out in the latest "China & Taiwan Update" report, which collects data as of November 5, that the Chinese People's Liberation Army has recently made unusually large-scale military deployments around Taiwan and the Western Pacific. One of the assembly areas is between Taiwan and Guam, and the other is concentrated around Taiwan. The report concluded that Beijing may be conducting a major unannounced military exercise, simulating encirclement and isolation of Taiwan in wartime, cutting off external aid, and blocking Taiwan's air and sea connections with the outside world. The report pointed out that this military operation not only exceeded the scale of the "Justice Mission 2025" exercise conducted by the People's Liberation Army at the end of 2025, but also rarely assembled troops from the eastern, northern and southern theaters in an attempt to demonstrate cross-theater joint operations capabilities. The report stated that this unannounced "silent military exercise" was intended to create the impression that Taiwan could be isolated at any time, with the goal of weakening Taiwan's confidence in its own defense.
China regards democratically governed Taiwan as its territory and has never given up the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control, although China claims that it prefers "peaceful reunification." Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims and says only the Taiwanese people can determine their own future.
The Chinese Ministry of National Defense did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment on the news that China is conducting "area denial" exercises in the Western Pacific. Zhang Xiaogang, spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, said at the end of October that the training of the Liaoning aircraft carrier group in the Western Pacific is an annual routine and is designed to test its long-range and offshore combat capabilities and is not targeted at any specific country.
China's exercises come ahead of key events: next week's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, where U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to meet again with Chinese President Xi Jinping. In addition, Taiwan will hold an important "nine-in-one" local election on November 28 to elect nine types of local public offices, including mayors directly under the central government and county mayors.
