G7 Warns China’s Military Activities East of Taiwan Threaten Regional Stability

Foreign ministers from Ukraine, Germany, the UK, the United States, France, Canada, Italy, and Japan, alongside the EU's foreign policy chief, pose for a group photograph during the G7 foreign ministers' meeting in Paris on Nov. 10, 2026. Brendan Smialowski/Reuters

The Chinese regime’s aggressive actions in the waters east of ‌Taiwan threaten stability and freedom of navigation in the region, the Group of Seven democracies have said.

Beijing, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory, has pursued a sustained campaign of military intimidation, economic coercion, and political pressure aimed at shaping public opinion on the island.

“We stressed the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait … we reaffirmed our opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo, particularly by force or coercion, or the threat thereof,” the G7 said in its declaration, published late on ‌Wednesday following a meeting in Paris.

“We encouraged the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues through constructive dialogue. We also expressed our support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations.”

In November 2025, Taiwan’s foreign ministry welcomed a joint declaration, saying that it marked the fourth time that year G7 foreign ministers had reiterated their support for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

China recently dispatched more than 100 navy and other vessels, including the aircraft carrier Liaoning, across the western Pacific, according to Joseph Wu, secretary-general of Taiwan’s National Security Council.

In a Nov. 3 X post, the senior official also pointed to the “high number of air sorties” conducted by Chinese military aircraft near Taiwan recently.

On Nov. 3, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense reported detecting 49 sorties by Chinese military aircraft around the island in the preceding 24 hours, including 31 sorties that entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ).

An ADIZ is an area extending beyond a country’s national airspace, where approaching foreign aircraft may be required to identify themselves and provide their location.

The Chinese regime “is such a big bully,” Wu wrote, and that Taiwan “is staying vigilant.”

They were announced shortly after Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te’s National Day address on Oct. 10.

Shen Ming-shih, a research fellow at Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research, and U.S.-based Chinese author and political commentator Chen Pokong previously told The Epoch Times that the drills could be a show of force directed at influencing Taiwan’s Nov. 28 election.

They said the exercises were unlikely to have a substantial effect on the military situation across the strait.

“The [Chinese Communist Party] has conducted even more intense operations around Taiwan before,” Chen said. “It has done everything, including military exercises to encircle Taiwan, but ultimately returned empty-handed.”

Shen said that the Chinese regime routinely uses its military activities to push its political message: that there is no Taiwanese independence under its “one China principle.”

The drills allow Beijing to claim, both domestically and internationally, that it has responded firmly to Lai’s speech, Shen said.

Michael Zhuang and Frank Fang contributed to this report.