Published: 10:00pm, 19 Oct 2025Updated: 10:24pm, 19 Oct 2025
The People’s Liberation Army has refrained from conducting a large-scale drill near Taiwan following its leader’s annual policy speech – an address seen as less provocative than last year’s, which drew sabre-rattling from Beijing.
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Figures released by Taiwan’s defence ministry showed there was no increase in the number of PLA warplanes and warships detected near the island following William Lai Ching-te’s Double Tenth address on October 10.
According to the Taiwanese figures, the PLA conducted seven to 27 sorties per day in the week following Lai’s speech.
It was a different story last year, when the PLA responded with a show of force around the island in war games dubbed “Joint Sword-2024B” that involved 153 warplane sorties.
Beijing said at the time that the massive drill aimed to punish Taipei for its provocation.
The most recent large-scale PLA exercise near Taiwan was on April 1, when its warplanes conducted 76 sorties in what Beijing said was a “serious warning” to “Taiwan independence forces”.