The U.S. State Department issued its response on Jan. 1, 2026, to the PLA exercises around Taiwan earlier this week. “China’s military activities and rhetoric toward Taiwan and others in the region increase tensions unnecessarily,” Deputy spokesman Tom Piggott said. “We urge Beijing to exercise restraint, cease its military pressure against Taiwan, and instead engage in meaningful dialogue. The United States supports peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and opposes unilateral changes to the status quo, including by force or coercion.”
The Chinese pushed back against such criticism. Zhang Xiaogang, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, said the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command successfully conducted the exercise, dubbed Justice Mission 2025, to test integrated joint combat capabilities and demonstrate the military’s readiness to counter separatist activities and outside intervention, reported China Daily. “The exercise clearly shows that any provocative act crossing red lines on the Taiwan question will be met with resolute countermeasures,” Zhang said in a statement responding to media queries, adding that attempts to obstruct China’s reunification “will never succeed.”
