U.S. says China’s military activities near Taiwan “increase tensions unnecessarily”

Chinese war games around Taiwan “unnecessarily” spiked tensions in the region, the U.S. State Department said, calling on Beijing to “cease its military pressure.”

“China’s military activities and rhetoric toward Taiwan and others in the region increase tensions unnecessarily,” Tommy Pigott, principal deputy spokesperson for the State Department, said in a statement Thursday. “We urge Beijing to exercise restraint, cease its military pressure against Taiwan, and instead engage in meaningful dialogue.”

“The United States supports peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and opposes unilateral changes to the status quo, including by force or coercion,” he added. 

China claims that democratic Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to annex it.  

On Monday and Tuesday, Beijing launched missiles and deployed dozens of fighter jets, navy ships and coastguard vessels to encircle Taiwan’s main island, saying the drills — code-named “Justice Mission 2025” — simulated a blockade of main Taiwanese ports.

Taipei condemned the exercises as “highly provocative.”

President Trump said Monday he was not concerned about the drills, appearing to brush aside the possibility of counterpart Xi Jinping ordering an invasion.

“I have a great relationship with President Xi. And he hasn’t told me anything about it. I certainly have seen it,” Mr. Trump told reporters when asked about the exercises.

“I don’t believe he’s going to be doing it,” he said in apparent reference to an invasion.

“They’ve been doing naval exercises for 20 years in that area. Now people take it a little bit differently,” the president said.

The United States has been committed for decades to ensuring Taiwan’s self-defense, while staying ambiguous on whether the U.S. military itself would intervene in an invasion. Beijing’s show of force came after the Trump administration approved an $11 billion arms package for Taiwan.

China’s latest military exercise was the sixth major round of maneuvers since 2022, when a visit to Taiwan by then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi enraged Beijing.