Beijing fires rockets towards Taiwan in drills simulating blockade

China fired rockets into waters off northern and southern Taiwan on Dec 30 and deployed new amphibious assault ships alongside bomber aircraft and destroyers on the second day of its most extensive war games, a rehearsal for a blockade of the island.

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The Eastern Theatre Command said the live-firing would go on until 6pm, affecting the sea and airspace of five locations surrounding Taiwan.

It also released a video showing what appeared to be a mobile PCH-191 rocket launcher firing into the sea from an unspecified location in China.

Naval and air force units also simulated strikes on Taiwan maritime and aerial targets as well as antisubmarine operations to the democratically governed island's north and south, the Chinese military said.

Named "Justice Mission 2025", the drills began 11 days after the US announced a record US$11.1 billion (S$14.3 billion) arms package to Taiwan. They are Beijing's largest exercises to date by area and the closest yet to the island.

A senior Taiwan security official told Reuters that Taipei is watching whether this sixth major round of war games since 2022, when then US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island, will see China firing missiles over Taiwan, as it did then.

Beijing also looks to be using the exercises to practise striking land-based targets such as the US-made HIMARS rocket system, the source said, a highly mobile artillery system with a range of about 300km that could hit coastal targets in southern China.

China's PCH-191 is an advanced modular long-range rocket launcher with a strike range comparable to that of the HIMARS system. Featured in Beijing's massive military parade to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in September, the system can strike any point in Taiwan, according to the Chinese state media.

Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te said in a post on Facebook that front-line troops were primed to defend the island, but that Taipei did not seek to escalate the situation.