Australia says it is deeply concerned about Chinese military exercises near Taiwan, and has raised the issue with Chinese officials.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Dfat) said the large-scale simulations risked destabilising the region and could result in an accident or escalation.
The People’s Liberation Army launched the expansive surprise attack simulation on Monday, calling the war games “Justice Mission 2025”.
Dfat said the exercises were “deeply concerning, destabilising and risk inflaming regional tensions”.
“Australia strongly opposes any actions that increase the risk of accident, miscalculation or escalation. Differences should be managed through dialogue, not the use of force or coercion,” the statement said.
“Australia opposes any unilateral action to change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait. Peace and stability are in all our interests.
“Australian officials have raised concerns with Chinese counterparts.”
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The PLA, the armed wing of China’s ruling Communist party, fired 27 missiles from the Chinese coastline into waters near Taiwan on Tuesday, according to Taiwan’s defence ministry.
At least 70 Chinese war planes, 11 navy ships and 14 from China’s militarised coast guard were also detected.
The Taiwanese defence ministry said the missiles came closer to Taiwan’s main island than in previous live-fire drills.
Some landed in Taiwan’s 24-nautical mile contiguous zone, and at least 13 ships were also detected within those restricted waters, the ministry said.
In the 24 hours from 6am on Monday, the military detected 130 war planes, 28 ships, amphibious assault ships, and one surveillance balloon.
It is the sixth major PLA military exercise targeting Taiwan since 2022, when it launched days of live-fire drills in retaliation for the-then US speaker, Nancy Pelosi, visiting the island. In April, it held a two-day operation labelled Strait Thunder-2025A, prompting expectations for a “B” before year’s end.
Analysts said it was the first time the PLA had explicitly said it was practising deterring international involvement. Also, unusually, a number of PLA aircraft remained visible on radar platforms.
Asked about the drills on Monday, the US president, Donald Trump, said he had a great relationship with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, “and he hasn’t told me anything about it”.
“I certainly have seen it … I don’t believe he is going to be doing it,” Trump said, appearing to refer to an actual invasion. “Nothing worries me.”
Beijing claims Taiwan is a Chinese province and is preparing to annex it militarily, with the aim of being capable of invasion by 2027, according to US intelligence from several years ago.
