Executive Summary: Taiwan's 2025 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) prioritizes enhancing all-of-society resilience and emphasizes U.S.-Taiwan military cooperation. The document represents a significant improvement over its predecessor in content and clarity but suffers from being a document without consensus: Published by the Ministry of National Defense,... MORE

Executive Summary: People’s Liberation Army (PLA) operations against Taiwan on April 1–2 consisted of multiple drills that had limited interconnection, distinguishing them from exercises that tend to be more complex and confrontational. Recent training reforms have meant that drills now tend to involve more cross-service... MORE

Executive Summary: The People’s Liberation Army Navy conducted two live-fire drills in the Tasman Sea in February without providing customary notification to Australia or New Zealand and causing at least 49 civilian aircraft to divert course. The Tasman Sea drill was designed to demonstrate the... MORE

Executive Summary: Taiwan has suffered an annual average of 7–8 undersea cable disruptions over the past three years, most of which it attributes to vessels from the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Undersea cables carry 95 percent of global internet traffic. Recent PRC research and... MORE

Executive Summary: The People’s Liberation Army Air Force has been developing drone technology specifically for use in a Taiwan contingency, some of which was on display at the Zhuhai Airshow in November. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is framing the country’s rapid expansion of... MORE

Executive Summary: People’s Liberation Army (PLA) naval training drills near Taiwan and surrounding the First Island Chain on December 9–11 did not constitute a full-scale joint exercise but sent a signal to the incoming US administration. Beijing’s power projection demonstration, involving 60 vessels, signals to... MORE

Executive Summary: Civilian drones launched from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have repeatedly violated the Republic of China's (ROC) airspace over the outlying islands of Kinmen and Matsu, which serves as part of a gray zone campaign to discredit the self-governing democracy's ability and... MORE

Executive Summary: The Joint Sword-2024B exercise on October 14 focused on quarantining Taiwan’s ports and establishing sea and air superiority. It showcased the ability of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to coordinate maritime control with China Coast Guard (CCG) assets. “2024B” was the fourth exercise in... MORE

Executive Summary: The Joint Sword 2024–B exercises by the People’s Liberation Army were in part a tool of political intimidation to “serve as a stern warning to the separatist acts of ‘Taiwan Independence’ forces,” namely the Lai Ching-te administration. Beijing’s rhetoric is doubling down on... MORE

Executive Summary: Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te stated that if China’s claims on Taiwan are about territorial integrity, then it should also press for the restoration of land from Russia that the Qing dynasty signed over in the 19th century. If Russia can insist that Ukraine,... MORE