| Date | 9 Dec 2024 |
| Tracker | China-Taiwan Tensions |
| Type | Exercise |
| Location | Western Pacific Ocean |
Without announcing an exercise, China deployed nearly 90 navy and coast guard vessels in waters from the East and South China Seas into the western Pacific from roughly December 9 to 12, 2024, which Taiwanese officials called the largest maritime operation since the 1995-96 Strait crisis. The PLA also reserved airspace zones off Fujian and flew dozens of sorties. Coming days after President Lai's transit stops in Hawaii and Guam, the deployment rehearsed sea control along the first island chain; Beijing never acknowledged it.
| Series | That day | Prior 30-day avg | Week after vs before |
|---|---|---|---|
| ADIZ aircraft | 16 +113% | 7.5 | +66% (50 → 83) |
| Aircraft detected | 47 +270% | 12.7 | +95% (88 → 172) |
| PLAN ships | 12 +71% | 7.0 | +13% (62 → 70) |
| Date | Type | Incident |
|---|---|---|
| 14 Oct 2024 | Exercise | China's Joint Sword-2024B drills set single-day record of 153 aircraft around Taiwan |
| 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 |
| 1 Apr 2025 | Exercise | China stages Strait Thunder-2025A drills with live fire and closest carrier approach to Taiwan |
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.