China Stages Largest Show of Force in Decades After U.S. Visit by Taiwan’s Lai

China massed dozens of navy and coast guard vessels in what appears to be the largest maritime exercises targeting Taiwan and the broader Western Pacific since 1996, a potent warning to the incoming Trump administration of China’s increasingly aggressive stance in the region.

China’s military didn’t announce the start of any drills. But Taiwanese authorities said Tuesday they were seeing “major elements of a military drill” over a vast expanse of air and sea near Taiwan.

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“Russia and China have pledged to support each other’s core interests,” said Jacob Stokes, who served on then-Vice President Biden’s national-security staff and is a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington think tank. “So, China supports Russia in Ukraine, and Russian exercises near Taiwan are part of Russia reciprocating by helping to pressure Taiwan.”

China and Russia carry out regular military drills together. In December 2022 they conducted exercises in the East China Sea, just to the north of Taiwan, that analysts said were likely meant to display the sort of quarantine and blockade capabilities that might be used in a conflict over Taiwan.

Read the full article on The Wall Street Journal.