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: Chinese military experts are incorporating lessons from Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on the use and importance of drones and autonomous systems, which is reshaping the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) strategic planning and operational doctrine. In simulated Taiwan Strait scenarios, the PLA has... MORE

Executive Summary: Creative legal strategies have been deployed in recent years to support a justification for a blockade around Taiwan. International law contains the concept of a “long-distance blockade” and the “continuous voyage doctrine” that could both be invoked to restrict access to Taiwan by... MORE

Executive Summary: Fujian Province’s new “Measures for Guaranteeing Militia Rights and Interests” aim to incentivize maximum readiness for forces who likely will be key in any campaign against Taiwan. The measures provide financial support and other perks in an attempt to motivate troops and promote... MORE

Executive Summary: Recent suspicious activities conducted by the merchant vessels Shunxing-39 and Vasili Shukshin in the vicinity of Taiwan in early 2025 suggest possible collaboration between Chinese and Russian merchant ships related to the reconnaissance and sabotage of undersea communications cables that connect Taiwan to... MORE

Executive Summary: Talent flows uncovered between Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s (TSMC) operations in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and several sanctioned PRC firms constitute risks to the company’s position at the leading edge of the global chip industry. TSMC’s transition to encompass other parts... MORE

Executive Summary: Taiwan is acting against media organizations operating in the country that are affiliated with the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) party-state. In early January, Taiwan’s government revoked the operating license of the magazine Strait Herald following revelations about its influence and infiltration activities.... MORE

Executive Summary: In 2024, the number of days and sorties involving Chinese military aircraft crossing the Taiwan Strait median line reached a peak, but the total sorties of Chinese aircraft around Taiwan and the number of peak incursion periods were not significantly higher than in... 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