Year: 2026

In the final days of 2025, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) staged some of its largest-ever maritime drills near Taiwan. Dubbed “Justice Mission 2025” and accompanied by Chinese propaganda denouncing “Taiwan Independence separatists” and “external forces”, the drills were intended to simulate a blockade of Taiwan. It was latest in a series of attempts by the Chinese Communist Party to coerce and pressure the Taiwanese people and their democratically elected government. But what did these drills actually accomplish? Based on the nonchalant response of the Taiwan public, the answer appears to be: not much. In this episode, we discuss the latest PLA drills, China’s pressure campaign against Taiwan, and the effect (or lack of) that it is having on Taiwan’s government and society. Host: Ethan LiuProducer: Tina Hsu Our guests: Shen Ming-shih Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR) Research Fellow Raymond Sung Taiwan National Security Institute Board Member Chapters:00:00:00 – China’s Drills Fail To Intimidate00:01:24 – What Did PLA Exercise Accomplish?00:13:32 – China Uses Pressure, Force00:17:33 – Taiwanese Unfazed by Threats

The CCP’s military exercises near Taiwan have never been so aggressive. What are they planning? And how close are they to the real invasion?

US strikes in Venezuela are fueling debate over whether the operation could set a precedent for other conflicts, including a potential Chinese move against Taiwan. TaiwanPlus spoke with Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the Indo-Pacific program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, who says Beijing is unlikely to alter its strategy toward Taiwan based on events elsewhere.

China has quietly launched its invasion of the US. But it’s not flashy. It starts in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, or CNMI for short, which is just to the north of Guam. And in particular, Saipan, where a major World War 2 battle was fought.

00:00 Introduction00:26 Xi’s New Year’s Address06:25 Taiwan Military Drills: Aftermath

The Pentagon says it has awarded Lockheed Martin a roughly $328 million contract for arms sales to Taiwan, citing an “urgent operational need” for the country’s air force. The decision follows China’s large-scale military drills around Taiwan.

As protests sweep across Iran in early 2026, many Chinese are watching closely—and not out of curiosity, but recognition. What began as economic unrest in Tehran has turned into a political crisis, raising a deeper question: could the same thing happen in China? This program examines why Iran and China, despite surface differences, share striking structural similarities as ideological regimes. From collapsing economic bargains and youth despair to elite withdrawal, rising repression costs, and spreading grassroots protests, the same warning signs are now visible in China. Iran may not be an exception—it may be a preview.

China is requiring chipmakers to source at least half of their equipment domestically, as part of its push to build a self-sufficient semiconductor supply chain. It’s one of Beijing’s most significant moves yet to reduce reliance on foreign technology.

TaiwanPlus spoke with defense analyst Ming-shih Shen from the INDSR about what this week’s Chinese military drills around Taiwan could mean for the future and the lessons observers have drawn.

Xi Jinping is purging millions of CCP members. But they want him gone, too. He’s terrified that if he makes one wrong move, he’ll be forced out. And there’ll be hell to pay.