| Date | 14 Oct 2024 |
| Tracker | China-Taiwan Tensions |
| Type | Exercise |
| Location |
Taiwan Strait
23.57, 119.58 (approximate) |
After President Lai Ching-te's October 10 National Day address, the PLA conducted the one-day Joint Sword-2024B exercise on October 14, 2024 in the Taiwan Strait and in zones around the island, practicing blockade of key ports, strikes on maritime and ground targets and seizure of comprehensive superiority. Taiwan detected a record 153 PLA aircraft in a 25-hour window, 111 crossing the median line, alongside navy vessels and an unusually large China Coast Guard deployment, while the Liaoning carrier group operated east of Taiwan.
| Series | That day | Prior 30-day avg | Week after vs before |
|---|---|---|---|
| ADIZ aircraft | 111 +1094% | 9.3 | +83% (92 → 168) |
| Aircraft detected | 153 +1068% | 13.1 | +86% (131 → 244) |
| PLAN ships | 14 +119% | 6.4 | -2% (59 → 58) |
| Date | Type | Incident |
|---|---|---|
| 23 May 2024 | Exercise | China holds Joint Sword-2024A punishment drills around Taiwan after Lai inauguration |
| 9 Dec 2024 | Exercise | China masses near-90-ship fleet around Taiwan in largest maritime deployment in decades |
| 3 Jan 2025 | Infrastructure | Trans-Pacific Express cable damaged off Keelung; Taiwan blames China-linked freighter |
| 25 Feb 2025 | Infrastructure | Taiwan detains China-crewed freighter after Penghu undersea cable severed |
Taiwan's Cabinet on September 3, 2026 approved a NT$145.7 billion (US$4.6 billion) defense allocation within a NT$607.63 billion supplementary budget, covering two classified programs, three uncrewed-systems programs and the Chiang Kung anti-ballistic missile system, pending a legislative vote.
President Lai Ching-te's government will ask the Legislative Yuan for NT$1.1225 trillion ($35.2 billion) in defense spending for 2027, the first Taiwanese military budget above NT$1 trillion and the first to exceed 3 percent of GDP.
Chinese military aircraft entering Taiwan's air defense identification zone fell 52 percent in the first seven months of 2026 compared with the same period of 2025, according to Taiwan's daily defense ministry reports — while PLA Navy vessel sightings dropped just 7 percent.