Mainland China stepping up preparations for Taiwan blockade, report says

Taiwan’s defence ministry has warned that the People’s Liberation Army is stepping up its preparations for a blockade of the island, adding that it is sharpening its plans to break such a cordon in response. The assessment was made in the ministry’s “2026 China Military Power Report”, which was submitted to the legislature this week along with its five-year force development plan and next year’s proposed defence budget. The report said recent PLA exercises were increasingly focused on the “joint...