Justice Mission 2025: Australia tells China it holds deep concerns about Beijing’s practice blockade of Taiwan

Australia has told Beijing it is deeply concerned about China’s military exercises simulating a blockade of Taiwan this week, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has revealed.

Chinese military have fired rockets towards Taiwan and deployed new amphibious assault ships alongside bomber aircraft and warships to encircle the island during the large-scale war games, dubbed “Justice Mission 2025”.

Australia strongly opposes any actions that “increase the risk of accident, miscalculation or escalation”, DFAT said in a strongly worded statement issued on Wednesday.

“China’s military and coast guard exercises around Taiwan are deeply concerning, destabilising and risk inflaming regional tensions,” it said.

“Differences should be managed through dialogue, not the use of force or coercion.

“Australia opposes any unilateral action to change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait. Peace and stability are in all our interests.”

Australian officials have raised their concerns with their Chinese counterparts.

China’s foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Tuesday the drills were “a punitive and deterrent action against separatist forces who seek Taiwan independence through military buildup, and a necessary move to safeguard China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity”.

A day earlier, he accused Taiwan’s government of “turning Taiwan into a powder keg” and of being “provocateurs, saboteurs of peace and war-mongers”.

Reuters reported last week that a draft Pentagon report says “China expects to be able to fight and win a war on Taiwan by the end of 2027”, the centenary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army, a key symbolic milestone in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s modernisation drive.

US President Donald Trump told reporters earlier in the week that “nothing worries me” about the drills, which have ramped up in recent years.