Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang. Photo: Chinese Defense Ministry

Responding to hypes by external forces regarding the just-concluded "Justice Mission 2025" joint drills, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang said on Friday that China will never allow any force to tie our hands in curbing "Taiwan independence" separatist activities in the name of safeguarding cross-Straits peace. He urged relevant countries to stop conniving at and supporting "Taiwan independence" forces, and stop stirring up trouble on the Taiwan question.

Multiple forces of the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) started drills code-named "Justice Mission 2025" around Taiwan Island earlier this week.

Countries including the US, Japan, Australia, the Philippines, as well as the European Union, have made irresponsible comments about the exercise, claiming the Chinese mainland should "exercise restraint" while opposing any "unilateral change to the status quo" across the Taiwan Strait. 

When asked to respond to the foreign hypes, Zhang noted that the successful organization of the drills has fully tested the integrated joint operation capabilities of the task forces, fully demonstrated the strong capability to combat "Taiwan independence" and promote reunification as well as counter external interference. 

It also clearly made it known that any egregious act of crossing the line and provoking trouble on the Taiwan question will surely be met with resolute countermeasures, and that any sinister attempt to obstruct China's reunification will never succeed, Zhang said.

"No one cherishes peace across the Taiwan Strait more than we do, yet we will never allow any individual or force to tie our hands in curbing 'Taiwan independence' separatist activities in the name of safeguarding cross-Strait peace; we will never tolerate any individual or force interfering in China's internal affairs and undermining stability across the Straits under the pretext of peace," the spokesperson stressed.

Photo taken on July 11, 2025 shows the US Department of State building in Washington, DC, the United States. Photo: Xinhua

In a press release posted on its website on Thursday local time, Tommy Pigott, a deputy spokesperson for the Department of State, claimed that the drills "increase tensions unnecessarily" and urged 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," the statement read.

The Department of State's latest response to China's recent military exercises near the island of Taiwan is a clichéd reaction that ignores the one-China principle and the underlying causes of regional instability, according to a Chinese expert.

Zhang Hua, a research fellow at the Institute of Taiwan Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that such a response from the US side can be characterized as a "routine" and "clichéd" reaction, as it continues to omit the one-China principle and shift the blame onto the Chinese mainland. Washington is essentially interfering in China's internal affairs, and it needs to recognize the root cause of tensions in the Taiwan Straits lies not in the mainland's military exercises, but in the provocative "Taiwan independence" agenda of the Lai Ching-te authorities and the growing US arms sales to the island, Zhang said.

Earlier this week, US leader claimed that the drills did not worry him, seeing such actions as are continuation of China's previous military exercises. Zhang pointed out that there is a difference in tone between the US State Department's rhetoric and the US leader's claim regarding the PLA's latest exercise.

Observers noted that while tensions in China-Japan relations had arisen due to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's erroneous remarks about the Taiwan question, multiple media outlets reported that US President Trump "advises" Takaichi not to provoke China on Taiwan during a phone call in November 2025. Furthermore, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on December 19 highlighted the balance between US' relationship with Japan and ties with China, as he claimed "strong, firm partnership and alliance with Japan" as well as finding "productive ways to work together with Chinese."

Observers believe that the US prioritizes its economic and trade relations with China over its overall relationship with Japan, or at least in the current context, it does not want Takaichi's own words and actions to cause further disruption.

The PLA Eastern Theater Command has successfully completed "Justice Mission 2025" drills and fully tested the integrated joint operations capabilities of its troops, Senior Captain Li Xi, spokesperson of the PLA Eastern Theater Command said on Wednesday. The exercise was conducted in the Taiwan Straits and waters to the north, southwest, southeast, and east of the island to counter "Taiwan independence" separatist activities and external interference, involving troops from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Rocket Force troops of the PLA Eastern Theater Command.

Multiple Chinese government department have responded to so-called concerns raised by external forces over the PLA drills near Taiwan, urging them to abide by the one-China commitment and criticizing them for indulging and supporting "Taiwan independence" forces.

When asked to respond to similar "concerns" from Japan, Australia, an EU agency and some European countries, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Wednesday that China firmly rejects the wrongful statements from these countries and institutions and has lodged serious protests with them, calling those so-called concerns "absolute hypocrisy and distortion."

The one-China principle is not only a prevailing international consensus and a basic norm in international relations, but also the political foundation for China's relations with all 183 countries having diplomatic ties with China, Lin added. "We once again call on these countries and institutions to abide by their commitment, stop interfering in China's internal affairs, and stop aiding and abetting separatism for 'Taiwan independence,'" he said.