DEFENSE / Trump 'not worried' as China stages live-fire exercises around Taiwan

Washington, Dec. 29 (CNA) U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had not informed him in advance of China's ongoing military exercises around Taiwan, adding that he was "not worried" about the operation.

Trump was responding to reporters' questions about the exercises at a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the president's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

"He [Xi] hasn't told me anything about it ... And I don't believe he's going to be doing it," Trump said.

The president said he was "not worried" about rising tensions around Taiwan, adding that China has been "doing naval exercises for 20 years in that area."

China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command announced the start of the two-day exercises, codenamed "Justice Mission-2025," on Monday morning.

The PLA announcement indicated that its forces would encircle Taiwan and its outlying islands in the Taiwan Strait, actions that Taiwan views as encroachment into its territorial waters and airspace.

● PLA drill areas within Taiwan's territorial waters: Taiwan military

Views of scholars

While the command issued a boilerplate statement noting that the exercise was meant as a stern warning against "Taiwan Independence separatist forces," some analysts believe it was a response to a massive arms sale announced by Washington on Dec. 17.

The US$11.1 billion deal -- one of the largest Taiwan has seen, according to Taiwan's defense ministry -- includes U.S.-made M109A7 howitzers, HIMARS rocket systems, anti-tank missiles and drones.

Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the German Marshall Fund's Indo-Pacific Program, told CNA that the U.S. weapons deal was one reason for the drill.

She said that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's recent comment in Japan's parliament that a Chinese attack on Taiwan would amount to a "survival-threatening" situation for Japan and could trigger a military response from Tokyo was also a factor.

Tom Shattuck, senior program manager at Perry World House, said that he believed the arms sale packages were likely a reason for China's exercises.

Both Glaser and Shattuck noted that the PLA needs to conduct exercises in preparation for a potential invasion of Taiwan.

"Honing the capabilities of the PLA is also deemed essential -- Xi Jinping has tasked the PLA with being prepared to take Taiwan by 2027," Glaser said.

"Exercises as a form of punishment are still part of the equation, but we've also entered into a new phase where [China] will conduct regular exercises around Taiwan to continue to simulate and practice military contingencies," Shattuck said.

Shattuck predicted that China will hold at least three large exercises around Taiwan in 2026 and gradually increase the number after that to increase pressure on Taipei.

Glaser, however, noted that the live-fire exercises will last only one day, compared to four days in August 2022, following a visit to Taiwan by then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

"That suggests that these exercises are performative, aimed at demonstrating China's anger, but not going so far as to derail the improving U.S.-China relationship."