William Yang

During annual military drills, Taiwan emphasized its army's resilience and cooperation with the U.S. military instead of focusing solely on advanced weapons displays. The exercises include live-fire tests to counter China’s “gray-zone tactics” and feature efforts to mobilize approximately 20,000 reservists. Further highlights include urban resilience drills in major cities like Taipei, Kaohsiung, and Taichung.

Taiwan's annual Huang Kuang drills are focusing on demonstrating flexibility and resilience rather than solely displaying advanced weapons. These exercises incorporate American-style training methods, such as backbriefing, aiming to enhance combat readiness. Key focus areas include mobilizing a large number of reservists and conducting urban resilience drills in major cities like Taipei.

China conducted a submarine-launched ballistic missile test into the Pacific, which analysts say was intended to signal growing military capabilities to U.S. allies in the region. The U.S. State Department and several Pacific nations criticized the launch, which occurred shortly after Australia and Fiji signed a mutual defense treaty.

China continues to view the United States as its primary geopolitical rival despite a report highlighting increased military activity by Japan and the Philippines in the South China Sea. The report noted Tokyo and Manila's growing defense cooperation with Washington, which Beijing perceives as threats to its territorial claims and regional influence.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping will visit North Korea next week, his first trip since 2019, to strengthen ties amid North Korea's recent military cooperation with Russia and its nuclear program expansion.

Chinese President Xi Jinping warned President Trump during their Beijing meeting that mishandling Taiwan could lead to conflicts, while China's latest Five-Year Plan suggests Beijing increasingly views Taiwan and the South China Sea as an integrated strategic theater for regional control and competition with the U.S. Analysts suggest China is accelerating concrete steps toward Taiwan reunification while strengthening its maritime position.

Taiwan's Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling visited Taiping Island in the disputed Spratly Islands, overseeing exercises framed as humanitarian operations that included armed coast guard drills. The visit represents Taiwan's adoption of China's 'gray zone' tactics to assert its territorial claims in the South China Sea without direct military escalation.