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Why is China holding military drills encircling Taiwan now?

By Emily Feng,

Scott Detrow

Published December 30, 2025 at 3:08 PM CST

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China wrapped a new round of live-fire military drills that encircled Taiwan, in a warning to what Beijing calls separatists across the Taiwan strait.

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Emily Feng

Emily Feng is NPR's Beijing correspondent.

Scott Detrow

Scott Detrow is a White House correspondent for NPR and co-hosts the NPR Politics Podcast.