Taiwan maps 53 Chinese vessels spread from southern Japan to the Philippines, with the carrier Liaoning east of Luzon

Taiwan has started publishing the map instead of waiting for reporters to ask. Joseph Wu, secretary general of the National Security Council, posted a chart on X on Wednesday marking the positions of 53 Chinese vessels across a wide stretch of sea, from the waters off southern Japan, down both sides of Taiwan, to the sea east of the Philippines. Thirty four of the vessels are navy warships. The aircraft carrier Liaoning and its accompanying battle group sit east of the Philippines, in the Philippine Sea. Other formations stand off Taiwan's east and southeast coasts, and three vessels are off the southern coast of Japan.

The simultaneous threat to Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines is obvious, Wu said. Taiwan is maintaining a high state of alert. Taipei has stepped up its practice of issuing detailed maps of Chinese naval and coast guard activity, and Wu published a similar map in May. Taiwan's defence ministry analysis says the deployment draws on units from three of China's theatre commands and puts the cost of the Pacific training programme at about 110 billion yuan, roughly 15.5 billion dollars, about 7 percent of China's defence budget.

Beijing answered with routine language. Defence ministry spokesman Zhang Xiaogang said on Thursday that the Liaoning carrier's training in the western Pacific is an annual routine to test long range, open ocean combat capabilities, and that it is not directed at any particular country. China views Taiwan as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control, while saying it would prefer a peaceful outcome. Taiwan's government says only the island's people can decide their future.

Japan saw part of the same deployment from its own coast. Its defence ministry tracked three Chinese warships and a coast guard ship on Tuesday as they passed through the narrow Osumi Strait off Kyushu and entered the Pacific. China's relations with Japan and the Philippines have both deteriorated in recent months, over Japanese support for Taiwan and over an increasingly bitter standoff with Manila in the South China Sea. The map establishes a wide simultaneous deployment. It does not by itself establish preparations for an attack, a blockade, or any announced operation, and none has been announced.