{"id":573,"date":"2025-12-30T09:58:28","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T09:58:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/todaynewshours.com\/?p=573"},"modified":"2025-12-30T09:58:29","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T09:58:29","slug":"trump-brushes-aside-chinas-taiwan-drills-says-military-exercises-are-nothing-new","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/todaynewshours.com\/?p=573","title":{"rendered":"Trump Brushes Aside China\u2019s Taiwan Drills, Says Military Exercises Are \u201cNothing New\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

U.S. President Donald Trump<\/strong> has played down China\u2019s large-scale military exercises around Taiwan<\/strong>, saying the drills do not concern him and are part of long-standing regional activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Trump said he was aware of the exercises but expressed no alarm. \u201cI have a very good relationship with President Xi Jinping<\/strong>, and he hasn\u2019t mentioned anything about it,\u201d Trump said. \u201cNothing worries me. Naval exercises have been happening in that area for decades.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The comments come as China carries out two days of military manoeuvres that simulate a blockade and seizure of key areas around Taiwan. The drills began nearly two weeks after Washington approved an $11 billion arms package for Taiwan, a move that prompted strong opposition from Beijing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China\u2019s People\u2019s Liberation Army said the exercises were aimed at deterring \u201cTaiwan independence separatist forces\u201d and countering \u201cexternal interference.\u201d On Tuesday, the drills expanded to include around ten hours of live-fire exercises across multiple zones surrounding the island, involving warships, fighter jets, and amphibious assault forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taiwan\u2019s defence ministry reported heightened activity, saying it detected around 130 Chinese military aircraft near the island, with the majority crossing the unofficial median line in the Taiwan Strait. More than a dozen Chinese naval vessels were also spotted in nearby waters. In response, Taiwan deployed aircraft, naval units and coastal missile systems to monitor the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taiwan\u2019s presidential office criticised the drills, calling them destabilising and contrary to international norms. President Lai Ching-te said Beijing\u2019s actions did not reflect the behaviour of a responsible global power, while assuring that Taiwan would act calmly and responsibly to safeguard national security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Analysts say the military exercises are directed less at Taiwan\u2019s population and more at signalling resolve to Washington and its regional allies. Experts point to U.S. arms sales \u2014 including systems capable of striking targets on the Chinese mainland \u2014 as a key factor behind Beijing\u2019s escalation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Trump<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

China has consistently maintained that Taiwan is part of its territory and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve reunification. In recent years, Beijing has increased military pressure through frequent drills and incursions near the island, while Taiwan has moved to strengthen its defences.Despite Trump\u2019s public dismissal of the exercises, his administration continues to support Taiwan militarily, reinforcing Washington\u2019s long-standing but delicate policy of backing the island\u2019s security while maintaining formal diplomatic ties with China<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

U.S. President Donald Trump has played down China\u2019s large-scale military exercises around Taiwan, saying the drills do not concern him and are part of long-standing regional activity. Speaking to reporters on Monday, Trump said he was aware of the exercises but expressed no alarm. \u201cI have a very good relationship with President Xi Jinping, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":574,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-573","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-politics"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/todaynewshours.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/todaynewshours.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/todaynewshours.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/todaynewshours.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/todaynewshours.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=573"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/todaynewshours.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":576,"href":"https:\/\/todaynewshours.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573\/revisions\/576"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/todaynewshours.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/todaynewshours.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/todaynewshours.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/todaynewshours.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}