China has also been deploying increasing numbers of non-military government ships such as coastguard, marine research and maritime safety vessels in waters around Taiwan. Defence experts believe the missions gather ocean data for submarine warfare and simulate coercive measures that could be used in a blockade.

China has announced sanctions on American companies selling arms to the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own territory and threatens to annex by force.

Many experts argue that China is preparing to seize Taiwan, driven by economic, geopolitical, and historical motivations. The CCP views Taiwan's annexation as a way to solidify its dominance in the Indo-Pacific and erase the legacy of the Chinese Civil War.

China sanctions nine U.S. military firms in response to arms sales to Taiwan, asserting violations of the one-China principle.

The U.S. aircraft was a P-8A Poseidon patrol and reconnaissance plane, according to the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command.

Taiwan's defense minister, Wellington Koo, says its getting harder to tell if any of China's many military drills might actually be a cover for Beijing to launch a surprise attack.