Taiwan Says China Is Running 'Area Denial' Drills in Western Pacific With Carrier Group

On Tuesday, standing in front of reporters at parliament in Taipei, Taiwan's Defence Minister Wellington Koo said what his ministry had been signaling for days: China is running what he called "area denial" drills in the Western Pacific. He said the exercises involve the Liaoning aircraft carrier group along with other naval training formations.

Koo was responding to a reported rise in Chinese activity around the island. The week before, Joseph Wu, secretary-general of Taiwan's National Security Council, posted on his X account details of deployments by more than 100 Chinese naval and Coast Guard vessels. By his account, the ships were operating off Taiwan, in the South China Sea, and out into the Pacific. Taiwan's defence ministry separately reported a large increase in the number of Chinese air force aircraft around the island. China has not formally declared any drills.

The term Koo used has a specific meaning. Anti-access/area denial, known as A2AD, describes keeping an outside force from intervening in a conflict. In the Taiwan context, that means stopping the United States or other allied forces from coming to Taipei's aid if Beijing were to attack.

China's defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Koo's remarks. It had addressed the carrier's movements the previous month, saying the Liaoning's training in the western Pacific was an annual routine meant to test long-range, open-ocean combat capabilities. The ministry said the training was not aimed at any particular country.

Koo did not accept that framing as the whole picture. "We believe that this kind of military deterrence is intended to undermine peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region," he said. He added that Taiwan's military is watching closely, and that it will use joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance means, and exchange intelligence with allies, to monitor the activity continuously and respond appropriately.

The timing sits between two events. Next week, the APEC summit is due in Shenzhen, where US President Donald Trump is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping again. At the end of this month, Taiwan holds local elections.

The backdrop is a long-standing one. China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and regularly sends warplanes and warships into the skies and waters around it. Beijing has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control, though it says it prefers "peaceful reunification." Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims and says only the Taiwanese people can decide their future.

What to watch now is whether China formally acknowledges the drills, and how the activity around Taiwan evolves as the Shenzhen summit and the island's elections draw near.