TAIPEI, November 13, 2026 — Taiwan has raised fresh concerns about China’s military activity across the western Pacific after a senior security official said Beijing assembled more than 100 naval and coast guard vessels in the region during an unannounced exercise earlier this month.
The deployment, described by Taiwanese officials as a campaign of “silent intimidation”, involved forces operating around Taiwan and across waters in the western Pacific. Reuters reported on Friday that the activity included formations from several Chinese military commands and that the scale of the deployment was larger than China’s last formally named exercises directed at Taiwan in late 2025.
The account is based partly on comments from a senior Taiwanese security official who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity. The official said the exercise included simulated attacks on other militaries and cities, including targets in Taiwan. Those details have not been independently confirmed by Beijing, and China’s Ministry of National Defence did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
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What Taiwan Says Happened
The Taiwanese official told Reuters that more than 100 Chinese naval and coast guard vessels had gathered in the region at one point in early November. The deployment was described as larger than “Justice Mission 2025”, China’s previous formally named exercises targeting Taiwan, and as one of the most extensive Chinese naval concentrations in recent years.
The official said the exercise involved coordinated naval forces from China’s eastern, northern and southern theatre commands. Taiwan’s assessment is that the scale and coordination suggested Beijing was testing a range of operational options, potentially including a blockade scenario and wider activity across the western Pacific.
Reuters reported that the number of Chinese vessels operating inside the first island chain had fallen to around 70 by Friday, according to two Taiwanese security officials. The Liaoning aircraft carrier group and other formations were still operating in waters east of the Philippines, while Taiwanese officials said Chinese air activity near the island remained intense.
The first island chain is a strategic line of islands and territories stretching from Japan through Taiwan and the Philippines. Military activity in the area is closely watched because it affects access to key sea lanes and the ability of outside forces to operate in the western Pacific.
Taiwan’s Latest Military Activity Report
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence published a separate daily report on November 13 covering the 24-hour period from 6 a.m. on November 12 to 6 a.m. on November 13, local time. It said Taiwan detected 30 sorties by Chinese military aircraft, eight Chinese naval vessels and three official ships operating around the island.
The ministry said 23 of the 30 aircraft sorties crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered parts of Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defence identification zone. Taiwan said its armed forces monitored the activity and deployed aircraft, naval vessels and coastal missile systems in response.
The daily report provides an official snapshot of activity around Taiwan. It is separate from the wider regional deployment described by the anonymous security official to Reuters and should not be treated as a count of all Chinese vessels operating across the western Pacific.
Why The Exercises Matter
Taiwan sits in a strategically important position between the East China Sea and the South China Sea. The Taiwan Strait is a major maritime route, while the waters east of the island connect the western Pacific with shipping routes used by regional economies and international trade.
Large military deployments can increase the risk of miscalculation, especially when aircraft and ships operate close to one another without clear public notice of the scale or purpose of an exercise. Even without a direct confrontation, sustained activity can increase pressure on Taiwan’s defence resources and create uncertainty for commercial shipping and regional governments.
Taiwan’s government has said it is monitoring the deployments and sharing information with partners. Defence Minister Wellington Koo previously described Chinese activity involving the Liaoning carrier group and other naval formations as anti-access/area-denial exercises. Such operations are designed to make it more difficult for outside forces to enter or operate in a particular area during a crisis.
China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has not renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control. Taiwan rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claim and says its future must be decided by its people. The two governments therefore interpret military activity around the island through fundamentally different political and security positions.
Beijing’s Position And The APEC Summit
China has not publicly announced the large exercise described in the latest Reuters report. In earlier comments about Liaoning’s Western Pacific training, Beijing characterised the carrier’s activity as routine training intended to improve long-range and open-ocean combat capabilities, and said it was not aimed at any particular country.
The absence of a public announcement has become part of Taiwan’s concern. Officials in Taipei argue that exercises without clear public notice can create uncertainty for neighbouring governments and make it harder to distinguish routine training from operations intended to exert pressure.
The developments are unfolding ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ meeting in Shenzhen next week, where U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to meet. The timing adds a diplomatic dimension to the military activity, although the available reporting does not establish that the exercises were ordered specifically to influence the summit.
G7 Raises Concern Over Regional Stability
The military reports also follow a November 12 declaration by G7 foreign ministers expressing concern about China’s increasingly assertive activity in waters east of Taiwan. The ministers said the activity threatened regional stability, freedom of navigation and the safety of international shipping.
The G7 statement opposed unilateral attempts to change the status quo through force, coercion or threats. Beijing rejected the declaration as interference in its internal affairs and accused the group of adopting a Cold War mentality, according to Reuters.
The declaration did not announce new sanctions or military deployments. Its immediate significance was diplomatic: the G7 presented the issue as a concern for the wider international community rather than only a dispute between Beijing and Taipei.
What Could Happen Next
Attention will remain on whether Chinese naval and coast guard activity continues at the same scale, whether Taiwan reports further crossings of the Strait’s median line, and whether Beijing offers a public explanation for the latest regional operations.
The APEC meeting will also be watched for any public statements or direct exchanges between Trump and Xi that could affect cross-strait tensions. However, diplomatic engagement does not automatically resolve the underlying disagreements over Taiwan’s political status and security.
For Taiwan, the immediate task is to monitor military activity, maintain readiness and avoid actions that could turn a tense encounter into a crisis. For China and the United States, the challenge is to manage strategic competition without allowing military signalling or miscommunication to trigger an unintended escalation.
HeadlinesXtra Analysis
The latest deployment report matters because it suggests that China is using a broad mix of naval and coast guard forces across a much wider area than the waters immediately surrounding Taiwan. If the figures provided by Taiwanese officials are accurate, the scale of the operation demonstrates the capacity to coordinate activity across several military commands and to maintain pressure beyond the Taiwan Strait itself.
But the evidence needs to be read carefully. The claim of more than 100 vessels and the description of simulated attacks come from an unnamed Taiwanese security official. Taiwan’s daily defence reports provide verifiable details about aircraft and ships detected around the island, but they do not independently establish every element of the wider exercise described to Reuters. Beijing’s lack of a direct response also leaves important questions unanswered.
The strongest immediate concern is not that a conflict is inevitable, but that repeated large-scale activity can narrow the margin for error. More ships and aircraft operating in contested waters increase the chance of dangerous encounters, while exercises without clear public notification can make intentions harder to interpret.
Regional governments have a shared interest in keeping commercial routes open and preventing a crisis. Diplomatic messages, military communication channels and transparent notifications of exercises can reduce uncertainty. Taiwan’s security is central to the dispute, but the consequences of a confrontation would extend to the Philippines, Japan, the United States and global supply chains.
The coming APEC summit offers an opportunity for dialogue, but any lasting reduction in tension will require restraint and clear communication beyond a single meeting. The region needs a predictable security environment in which routine military training does not create the impression that a blockade or attack is about to begin.
Sources And Further Reading
- Reuters via Investing.com: China stages unannounced Pacific drills in ‘silent intimidation’ of Taiwan, officials say, November 13, 2026
- Taiwan Ministry of National Defence: PLA activities in the waters and airspace around Taiwan, November 13, 2026
- Reuters: Taiwan says China is conducting area-denial drills in the Western Pacific, November 10, 2026
- Taiwan News: Taiwan monitoring Chinese military drills in the Western Pacific, November 10, 2026
- Reuters: G7 foreign ministers say China’s actions east of Taiwan threaten stability, November 12, 2026
- Reuters: Xi says Taiwan reunification must happen as history cannot be stopped, November 12, 2026
Image Credits And Licences
- Aircraft carrier Liaoning — 辽宁号航母123, July 23, 2014; Wikimedia Commons, released into the public domain by the copyright holder. Source file.
- Taiwan Strait map — U.S. Central Intelligence Agency via Wikimedia Commons; public domain in the United States. Source file.
- Taipei skyline — Transcend Liu / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. Source file.