No major PLA activity near Taiwan after ‘troublemaker’ William Lai’s policy speech

Name: PLA launches blockade drills around Taiwan, days after speech by island’s leader
Uploaded: 2025-10-19T14:00:10.000Z
Duration: 3 min 25 s
Description: PLA launches blockade drills around Taiwan, days after speech by island’s leader

Taiwanese defence ministry figures show no increase in the number of warplanes and warships near the island since October 10

Reading Time:3 minutes

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Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te delivers the annual Double Tenth address on October 10 in Taipei. Photo: EPA

Amber Wangin Beijing

Published: 10:00pm, 19 Oct 2025Updated: 11:25pm, 19 Oct 2025

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has refrained from conducting a large-scale drill near Taiwan following its leader’s annual policy speech – an address seen as less provocative than last year’s, which drew sabre-rattling from Beijing.

Figures released by Taiwan’s defence ministry showed there was no increase in the number of PLA warplanes and warships detected near the island following William Lai Ching-te’s Double Tenth address on October 10.

According to the Taiwanese figures, the PLA conducted seven to 27 sorties per day in the week following Lai’s speech.

It was a different story last year, when the PLA responded with a show of force around the island in war games dubbed “Joint Sword-2024B” that involved 153 warplane sorties.

Beijing said at the time that the massive drill aimed to punish Taipei for its provocation.

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PLA launches blockade drills around Taiwan, days after speech by island’s leader

The most recent large-scale PLA exercise near Taiwan was on April 1, when its warplanes conducted 76 sorties in what Beijing said was a “serious warning” to “Taiwan independence forces”.

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