TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of National Defense on Monday said China’s military has designated five exercise zones around Taiwan that include areas within the country’s territorial waters, and that frontline units have been authorized to respond under rules of engagement.
China’s Eastern Theater Command announced on Monday the start of the “Justice Mission 2025” military exercise, with live-fire drills scheduled for Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. across five sea and air zones. The ministry responded by setting up an emergency operations center and initiating combat readiness drills, per CNA.
China’s coast guard designated two more areas, while Taiwan’s defense ministry identified an eighth area off eastern Taiwan. Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升), deputy chief of the general staff for intelligence, said the five PLA zones include Taiwan’s 12-nautical-mile (22 km) territorial sea baselines.
One exercise area off Taiwan’s southwest lies adjacent to the territorial sea baseline near Eluanbi, with a similar zone near the Penghu Islands. Internationally, a state’s territorial sea extends 12 nautical miles from its baselines, and waters within that limit constitute national territorial waters.
Citing Article 51 of the UN Charter, Lieutenant General Lien Chih-wei (連志威), deputy chief of general staff for operations and planning, said Taiwan has the right to self-defense if Chinese warships enter its territorial waters. He said Taiwan’s military has response measures at strategic, operational, and tactical levels under rules of engagement and an authorization matrix, including reporting, warning off, monitoring, and tracking.
Responses will be authorized for frontline units based on threat levels, with clear guidance for personnel executing missions. Frontline units, including the Navy’s 62nd Task Force, the Air Force Operations Command, and theater commands, direct forces to conduct patrols and carry out responses.
Regarding Tuesday’s live-fire drills, which prohibit vessel entry and impose no altitude limits, Lien said Taiwan’s military has been tracking developments. PLA forces entered the response zone Monday, prompting naval and air readiness forces to implement monitoring and missile-tracking measures, all of which remain under control.
Asked whether the armed forces had been fully recalled, Lien said they had not, and that commanders at all levels were executing plans under existing force structures. Military Spokesperson Sun Li-fang (孫立方) said the interval between China “turning drills into exercises and exercises into combat” has grown shorter, increasing pressure, but Taiwan’s military has adjusted readiness responses and training to counter the threat.
Coast Guard Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said China has deployed 14 coast guard vessels for the drills, with no signs of boarding actions. Four PLA-monitored merchant vessels are also in the exercise areas but are not participating.
Past China drills involved between nine and 22 coast guard vessels, Hsieh said, with 14 deployed this time. He added that the Joint Sword-2024A drills were the first to include coast guard ships, while Joint Sword-2024B was the first to include 10,000-tonne-class vessels.
Two Chinese coast guard ships have remained in northern waters since the drills began, operating within 44 km and as close as about 38 km. The Coast Guard has assigned vessels on a one-to-one basis to monitor them and will “push them out” if they approach closer.
Between 6 a.m. on Monday and 6 a.m. on Tuesday, the ministry detected 130 Chinese military aircraft, 14 naval vessels, and eight official ships around Taiwan. Ninety aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait median line into the country’s northern, central, southwestern, and eastern air defense identification zones.
