| Date | 23 Jul 2026 |
| Tracker | China-Taiwan Tensions |
| Type | Exercise |
| Location |
Dongshan Island, Fujian, China
23.61, 117.40 (approximate) |
The PLA conducted two days of live-fire drills on July 23-24, 2026 in a declared zone off Dongshan Island, Fujian, at the southern end of the Taiwan Strait, days after Beijing denounced President Lai Ching-te's speech to the ruling DPP's annual congress as reckless. The firings, held inside PRC territorial waters, capped a month of stepped-up gray-zone pressure that included the first recorded crossing of the strait's median line by a PLA helicopter on July 21, 2026.
| Series | That day | Prior 30-day avg | Week after vs before |
|---|---|---|---|
| ADIZ aircraft | 6 +22% | 4.9 | -20% (51 → 41) |
| Aircraft detected | 8 +16% | 6.9 | +12% (58 → 65) |
| PLAN ships | 6 -13% | 6.9 | -10% (52 → 47) |
| Gov ships | 4 +8% | 3.7 | -28% (25 → 18) |
| Date | Type | Incident |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 29 Dec 2025 | Exercise | China's Justice Mission-2025 blockade drills bring record air activity and rocket fire near 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.