ISW Flags Possible Isolation Drill as Tokyo Courts Calm
The Institute for the Study of War said on November 6 that China may be running an unannounced exercise simulating the isolation of Taiwan, TaiwanDefence reported. The institute cited Taiwan’s reported count of more than 100 navy and coast guard vessels in the western Pacific, and noted that neither it nor USNI News reports a formal Chinese exercise name or end date.
Separately, Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration said it has driven away Chinese vessels on 618 occasions this year, including 13 coast guard incursions near Dongsha and 39 near Kinmen, Taiwan News reported, citing Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling.
In Japan, business groups are working to ease the rift with Beijing over Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Taiwan remarks a year ago, the Japan Times reported. Chinese visitors to Japan halved from January to September, and 40 Japanese companies face dual-use export bans.
The picture remains pressure alongside unresolved diplomacy.