A joint military exercise code-named “Justice Mission 2025” carried out by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in December last year suggested that the PLA was testing year-round operational readiness, appears focused on aggression against Taiwan’s eastern region as well as Penghu, a Taiwanese defense researcher said.
The drills — which included firing rockets into waters off Taiwan proper and deploying large numbers of aircraft and naval vessels around the country — demonstrated three key developments, Taiwan Defense Studies Initiative (TDSI) cofounder Tristan Tang (湯廣正) said.
First, in the lead-up to the exercise, the PLA for the first time conducted a large-scale encirclement drill around Taiwan in December.
Photo: Tsai Hsin-han, Reuters
Second, during the drills, the PLA deployed a Type 075 amphibious assault ship east of Taiwan proper to rehearse assault operations targeting the island’s eastern region.
Third, the PLA appeared to carry out a joint live fire strike exercise involving ground, naval, air and rocket forces, with Penghu County as the primary target, Tang said.
Speaking on a recent episode of a military program hosted by the Liberty Times, the sister paper of the Taipei Times, he said the timing of the drills indicated that the PLA was testing its Eastern Theater Command’s ability to maintain year-round readiness.
In the past few years, major encirclement exercises around Taiwan have typically taken place between April and October, and a December exercise was unprecedented, he said.
Under the PLA’s long-standing annual training cycle, large-scale or highly intensive exercises are usually avoided at the beginning and end of the year, Tang said.
However, an article published early last year in the PLA’s official newspaper, PLA Daily, suggested that multiple units had begun breaking from traditional training patterns to promote cross year training continuity, he added.
The encirclement exercise simulating assault operations against eastern Taiwan using a Type 075 amphibious assault ship task group also marked a departure from previous drills, Tang said.
The exercise featured ship aircraft coordination, maritime strike missions, long-range assault operations and comprehensive logistical support, Tang said.
Drills conducted on Dec. 30 included vertical deployment, elite assault operations, and the seizure and control of key ports, he added.
“These training activities involved securing air and sea superiority, as well as conducting tri-service amphibious landings on eastern Taiwan, including the refinement of helicopter-borne air assault capabilities,” Tang said.
He added that a joint live fire strike exercise involving ground, naval, air and rocket forces targeting Penghu was also unprecedented.
Rocket launch sites on China’s Pingtan Island and in Quanzhou were used to strike impact zones off southwestern Taiwan, Tang said, citing Ministry of National Defense data and analysis by TDSI cofounder Joseph Wen (溫約瑟).
Although PLA long-range rocket units were involved in drills in waters off northern Taiwan, the impact zones off southwestern Taiwan appeared to be the main focus of the exercise, he said.
“Given the scope of the drills, and the heavy concentration of naval and air forces conducting joint firepower strikes in that area, the PLA’s most likely targets would be Penghu and Tainan,” Tang said, adding that Penghu would likely be prioritized.
Penghu is more geographically isolated than Tainan, making it more difficult for Taiwan’s military to reinforce, he said.
“PLA aviation units operating from Magong Airport in Penghu would also be able to sustain operations against Taiwan more effectively than if they were launched from China’s Fujian coast,” Tang said.
As a result, occupying Penghu would be more feasible for the PLA and would carry significant military value, he added.
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