George Headley
WASHINGTON – In a two-day operation in December, dozens of Chinese ships and aircraft surrounded Taiwan in what looked like a rehearsal for a blockade. Taiwan’s military counted 90 aircraft sorties that crossed the center line of the Taiwan Strait on Dec. 29. Four amphibious assault ship formations were detected in international waters and 19 Chinese ships entered the island’s 24-mile buffer zone.
The exercise continued the next day with more incursions by air and sea. Ten long-range rockets landed within 24 miles of the coast – the closest live projectiles China had ever fired, according to the Global Taiwan Institute. “Justice Mission 2025” was one of China’s largest exercises ever around Taiwan, and the biggest since 2022, when it lashed out after Nancy Pelosi, then Speaker of the House, became the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit the self-governing island in 25 years.
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