| Date | 25 Feb 2025 |
| Tracker | China-Taiwan Tensions |
| Type | Infrastructure |
| Location |
Tainan, Taiwan
23.00, 120.23 (approximate) |
Taiwan's Coast Guard boarded and detained the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 and its Chinese crew on February 25, 2025 after the Taiwan-Penghu No. 3 undersea cable was severed off Tainan, the first seizure of a suspected cable-cutting ship. Prosecutors said the vessel had dropped anchor and sailed in a zigzag across the cable. In April 2025 its captain became the first person Taiwan charged over cable damage, and a court later handed down a three-year prison sentence.
| Series | That day | Prior 30-day avg | Week after vs before |
|---|---|---|---|
| ADIZ aircraft | 9 -13% | 10.4 | -22% (114 → 89) |
| Aircraft detected | 11 -23% | 14.3 | -11% (136 → 121) |
| PLAN ships | 14 +97% | 7.1 | +3% (59 → 61) |
| Gov ships | 2 +150% | 0.8 | +143% (7 → 17) |
| Date | Type | Incident |
|---|---|---|
| 14 Oct 2024 | Exercise | China's Joint Sword-2024B drills set single-day record of 153 aircraft around Taiwan |
| 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 |
| 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.