The CCP’s Military Grand Performance; Trump Says Xi Did Not Give Notice

The CCP’s Military Grand Performance; Trump Says Xi Did Not Give Notice

[People News] Recently, the Chinese Communist Party once again launched large-scale military exercises around Taiwan. CCP military media and official media also cooperated by stirring up rhetoric in public opinion. According to the statement of the CCP Ministry of National Defense spokesperson, this exercise was “a serious warning to ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces and external interference forces, and a legitimate and necessary action to safeguard national sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity.” Clearly, the so-called “external forces” here mainly refer to the United States and Japan.

Undoubtedly, this round of CCP military exercises is a response to U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and to the newly released China Military Power Report. Under the current circumstances of both internal and external difficulties, this move by the CCP will only bring adverse consequences upon itself.

On December 29, former Japanese Liberal Democratic Party House of Representatives member Naomi Togashiki posted a message that hit the nail on the head: China’s military is conducting large-scale exercises around Taiwan to flaunt to both domestic and international audiences its capabilities of encirclement and blockade. Its purpose is likely to strongly restrain the United States and Japan. However, I have serious doubts about what China actually hopes to gain through such “coercion.” Military pressure has instead fostered independence tendencies in Taiwan’s Lai administration; economic pressure on Japan has also prompted both chambers of the U.S. Congress to pass China-critical resolutions. Cooperation between Japan and the European Union, as well as with the five Central Asian countries, has further strengthened. Meanwhile, the United States approved arms sales to Taiwan totaling approximately 1.7 trillion yen (about 110 billion U.S. dollars), the largest scale in history. What the chain reaction of “coercion” has brought is China’s isolation and the strengthening of an international encirclement network. It is probably time to calmly recognize that changing the status quo through force will ultimately bring no benefits.

As for the CCP’s performance, when asked at a press conference how he viewed it, U.S. President Trump stated that “President Xi did not inform me,” that there was “nothing for me to worry about,” and that “we’ve been conducting military exercises in that region for 20 years. Now, people look at it in different ways. But in fact, what we did back then was bigger than what they’re doing now. And they’ve been doing that kind of thing [referring to military exercises] for 20 or 25 years.”

Why is Trump not worried about the CCP’s seemingly aggressive military exercises? First, the United States has achieved knowing both itself and its opponent. The Art of War by Sun Tzu says: “Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be imperiled in a hundred battles.” This means that if one understands the strengths and weaknesses of both sides, one can remain undefeated.

On December 23, the U.S. Department of War released the 100-page 2025 Annual Report on the Military Power of the Chinese Communist Party, which is also the first CCP military power report released during President Trump’s second term. I roughly skimmed the report, and the first word that came to mind after reading it was “knowing both sides.” The U.S. military’s report is practicing exactly this principle.

The report elaborates from all aspects on the dynamics of the “People’s Liberation Army” over the past year, including the CCP’s development of conventional weapons and nuclear weapons, whether corruption within the CCP military affects its combat effectiveness, the all-dimensional pressure exerted on Taiwan, and assessments of the CCP’s relationships with Russia, Iran, and North Korea.

The report also includes the most detailed maps to date of the CCP’s major military deployments, covering the leadership structures of the Eastern, Southern, Western, and Northern Theater Commands; Rocket Force facilities (including missile bases and missile brigades); major Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Airborne units; deployed conventional strike forces; major logistics and support facilities; deployed nuclear ballistic missiles; and expanding missile silo fields.

Clearly, by releasing such a report, the United States is actually conveying a message to the CCP: the CCP’s military power is basically under U.S. control and observation, and this is also a warning to the CCP.

As the world’s number one military power, the United States has not remained complacent. Instead, after the Trump administration adjusted U.S. national security strategy and designated the CCP as the “number one enemy,” it not only enhanced its own military strength, but also sought to thoroughly understand the CCP’s military capabilities while deploying in advance to prevent the CCP from taking action in the Taiwan Strait.

This is the purpose of arms sales to Taiwan, and strengthening the U.S.–Japan alliance serves the same purpose. Most noteworthy is that on December 4, 2024, the U.S. military announced the establishment of a new U.S. Space Force command at Yokota Air Base in Japan. The purpose is to “strengthen U.S.–Japan cooperation in space monitoring and information sharing” in order to “detect and track missile launches by North Korea,” as well as the CCP’s “increasing space activities.”

The U.S. Space Force was established in December 2019 during President Trump’s first term. It is the sixth branch of the U.S. armed forces, separate from the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. It was re-established based on the Space Command formed in 1982. In terms of administration, personnel, and construction, it still falls under Air Force leadership, but its operational command system is led by the newly established Chief of Space Operations.

The purpose of establishing the U.S. Space Force is to deter the CCP. The U.S. space strategy report lists three major objectives of the Space Force: maintaining U.S. space superiority; providing space support for all joint military operations; and “ensuring space stability,” that is, deterring aggressive behavior and maintaining international agreements through sustained patrols in space. All three objectives are aimed at deterring adversaries, especially the CCP.

Among them, “providing space support for all joint military operations” should include early warning and monitoring of ballistic missiles, providing battlefield situational awareness for ground and maritime operations, and undertaking strategic communications and meteorological support. This is essentially telling adversaries, including the CCP, that with Space Force support, the chances of winning a conventional war are not high.

According to reports, after its establishment, the U.S. Space Force has comprehensively monitored the CCP’s satellites, communication networks, and undersea cables. This would not only directly weaken the CCP’s strategic nuclear deterrent, but also provide early warning if the CCP provocatively launches ballistic missiles. If necessary, it could even destroy the CCP’s BeiDou satellite system, shut down all CCP communication networks, and cut undersea cables, causing the CCP Rocket Force’s combat capability to suffer drastic losses and rendering all CCP land, sea, and air combat systems instantly incapable of combat.

For the U.S. military, which has mastered the deployment of CCP military forces, are the CCP’s military exercise movements also entirely under the surveillance of the U.S. Space Force?

What caused inner collapse within the CCP was a processed photograph released by the Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of China after the exercises, which indirectly confirmed that Trump’s statement of “not worrying” was indeed true.

This photograph is a black-and-white image taken by a Taiwanese F-16V fighter jet monitoring a CCP J-16 aircraft. The image was captured using the “Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod” (Sniper ATP) mounted on the F-16V, a high-tech avionics device developed by the U.S. company Lockheed Martin.

There is no need to elaborate on the performance and power of the F-16 fighter. Focusing solely on the “Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod,” it can precisely designate the most threatening targets on land, at sea, and in the air, and conduct intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance for air-to-air and air-to-ground missions. It can also transmit acquired target data to air-to-air missiles, air-to-ground missiles, and aerial bombs for integration. If the target’s position falls within the selected weapon’s fire coverage, an attack can be launched directly. Simply put, CCP pilots and the types of missiles they carry can all be photographed.

Moreover, according to Taiwanese media reports, the system adopts “silent” tracking, which is a passive detection system that emits no radar waves. The maximum distance for air-to-air tracking can reach as far as 187 kilometers. In other words, Taiwan’s fighter jets can monitor CCP aircraft as far away as the median line of the Taiwan Strait while positioned on the eastern side of the Central Mountain Range. They can see the front line from behind, and the CCP aircraft are completely unaware.

The black-and-white photograph released by Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense is essentially telling the CCP: the moment CCP aircraft take off, everything is under control. Doesn’t that hurt the CCP’s pride? This is also the reason why CCP aircraft dare not cross the red line.

So, knowing that the United States and Taiwan can fully monitor CCP aircraft, and under conditions of high-level turmoil and shaken military morale, why does the CCP military still carry out high-profile exercises? I believe the main purpose is to show them to the military internally and to the people of mainland China. On the one hand, it conveys that the CCP military still has combat capability and will not be affected by the downfall of numerous generals. On the other hand, it aims to divert public attention away from high-level personnel changes and from public resentment caused by economic downturn and livelihood difficulties.

However, the United States and Taiwan are not falling for the CCP’s trick. As long as the CCP does not cross the red line, they will calmly watch the CCP’s bluffing performance, while the CCP itself must weigh how it would clean up the mess once it crosses that red line.

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