Taiwan Says China Held 2 Combat Readiness Patrols in 24 Hours

Taiwan responded by launching a five-day ‘rapid response’ drill, starting on Monday.

This photograph released by Taiwan Ministry of National Defense, taken from a Taiwan Air Force P-3C Orion anti-submarine aircraft, shows a Chinese Cloud Shadow WZ-10 drone near Taiwan on March 17, 2025. Taiwan Ministry of National Defense via AP

The Chinese regime sent a large number of military aircraft and warships toward Taiwan on March 17, a show of force that Beijing described as a response to the recent actions by the United States regarding the self-governed island, which the regime claims as its own.

Taipei condemned Beijing’s military maneuvers, accusing it of using excuses to intimidate the island. Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense reported that the Chinese military carried out two combat readiness patrols in a single day, one in the morning and another in the afternoon.

According to Taiwan’s defense ministry, 54 military aircraft were dispatched by China that day. Among them, 42 crossed the Taiwan Strait’s median line, an unofficial boundary drawn by the U.S. military decades ago to help deescalate tensions between Taipei and Beijing. Taiwan also tracked nine Chinese military vessels and two Chinese balloons.

In recent years, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has ramped up military pressure on Taiwan, with its warplanes flying in skies near Taiwan on a nearly daily basis, aiming to wear down the island’s defenses and its people’s morale.

But some analysts say the March 17 deployments were still unusual in terms of their scale.

“For the first time on record, two joint combat readiness patrols were conducted in one day,” K. Tristan Tang, a research associate at Taiwan’s Research Project on China’s Defense Affairs, wrote on social media platform X.

Beijing said its military operations surrounding Taiwan were a response to the recent actions by the United States, particularly the updates of the Taiwan section on the State Department website’s fact sheet, which removed the phrase “we do not support Taiwan independence.”

Mao Ning, spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, told reporters on March 17 that these deployments were also a “serious warning” to what Beijing calls pro-separatist forces in Taiwan.

The CCP, which has never ruled Taiwan, claims the self-ruled island as its own territory, and regime leader Xi Jinping has never ruled out the use of force to bring the democratically governed island under the regime’s control.

To pressure Taiwan into accepting its communist rule, Beijing has sought to isolate Taiwan on the world stage. That includes repeatedly warning foreign nations to adhere to its “One China principle,” which demands recognition of the CCP’s claim to sovereignty over Taiwan.

The United States officially recognizes China rather than Taiwan. Still, the Taiwan Relations Act makes clear that the U.S. decision to establish diplomatic ties with Beijing instead of Taipei rests upon the expectation that the future of Taiwan will be determined by peaceful means.

“We oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side,” the updated State Department fact sheet on the U.S.–Taiwan relationship reads.

“We expect cross-Strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means, free from coercion, in a manner acceptable to the people on both sides of the Strait.”

In a statement issued on March 17, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemned the Chinese regime’s actions and criticism of the United States as a way to “deflect attention from its own disruptive behavior and push its skewed narrative.” It also accused Beijing of trying to undermine Taiwan’s relationship with Washington.

In response, Taiwan’s military launched a five-day “rapid response” drill on March 17, focusing on improving readiness and preparing for various scenarios, including situations akin to the harassment witnessed that day, according to Taiwan’s Defense Minister Koo Li-hsiung.

Koo characterized the CCP’s military operations as part of its gray zone harassment, which has heightened tensions in the region.

He told reporters on March 18 that the CCP resorts to “any excuse it can find” to conduct combat readiness patrols or military drills, pledging to closely monitor the Chinese military’s activities to defend national security.