China Military Incursions Near Taiwan Surge 15-Fold Since 2020

The Democratic Progressive Party reported that Chinese military aircraft incursions around Taiwan surged nearly 15-fold between 2020 and 2025, with annual sorties rising from 380 to 5,709. A report from the party's Department of China Affairs characterizes the Taiwan Strait as a testing ground for Beijing's expansionist ambitions and a center for gray zone activities designed to exhaust Taiwan's defensive resources.

On February 1, 2026, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense detected one Chinese aircraft and six naval vessels operating around its territory, with the aircraft crossing the median line into the eastern Air Defence Identification Zone. This activity follows large-scale 2025 exercises, including Strait Thunder-2025A and Justice Mission 2025, which approached Taiwan's territorial baselines. Similar high-intensity operations have been noted in the South China Sea, the Yellow Sea, and the Sea of Japan.

Beyond kinetic pressure, Taiwan's National Security Bureau identified a massive cognitive warfare campaign in 2025. The agency reported that China used IT and marketing firms, directed by the Central Publicity Department and Ministry of Public Security, to spread over 2.3 million pieces of disinformation through 45,000 fake social media accounts to fuel internal divisions. In response to regional instability, Japan and South Korea have agreed to resume bilateral naval search-and-rescue exercises.