Taiwan’s presidential office held a “tabletop” exercise on Thursday simulating military escalations by China, a first-of-its-kind drill involving government agencies beyond the armed forces that highlights Taipei’s urgency in ensuring preparedness against an increasingly assertive Beijing.

China, which views Lai as a separatist, held major military exercises around Taiwan following his inauguration in May and his National Day speech in October. It also held a major drill after Nancy Pelosi, then the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, visited Taiwan in 2022.

Taiwan’s military said 53 Chinese aircraft and 19 vessels were detected near the island as Beijing conducts its largest maritime exercises in decades. Taipei denounced Beijing as a "troublemaker."

China has expanded military drills around Taiwan with dozens of warplanes and a huge maritime exercise aimed at drawing "a red line" for the next US president, Taipei authorities said Wednesday. The security official said Wednesday that China's plans for the massive maritime operation began in October,

Taiwan’s presidential office conducted its first-ever "tabletop" exercises involving government agencies without military participation. The goal was to simulate a military escalation with China amid fresh threats from Beijing,