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Enoch Wong

The People’s Liberation Army has released footage of a coastal strike exercise simulating precision attacks on a mock liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal – a drill devised clearly with Taiwan’s largest such facility in mind.
The exercise was part of its drill on Wednesday code-named Strait Thunder 2025A.
The video, released the same day, showed PLA ground forces firing 16 live 300mm rockets at a target zone 70km (44 miles) away.
The mock target had six white round areas that mirrored the six semisubterranean fuel storage tanks at the Yongan LNG receiving station at the port in Kaohsiung, on Taiwan’s southern coast.

The drill was meant to test the PLA forces’ ability to enforce a blockade and sent a message about the military’s ability to block the island’s energy imports.
CCTV said the drill aimed to “cut off energy supply and resistance pathways” to “crush separatist moves with precision and speed”.
“Seize energy routes, sever supply lines, and block covert resupply channels,” a PLA image released alongside the footage said. “There will be no drawn-out war. Elimination of separatist forces must be clean and final.”


Meng Xiangqing, a professor at the PLA’s National Defence University, told state broadcaster CCTV that if Taiwan lost maritime supply routes, the island would quickly face energy shortages, economic paralysis and widespread unrest.
“Once maritime supply lines are severed, Taiwan becomes a dead island,” Meng said.
Fu Zhengnan, a researcher at the PLA Academy of Military Sciences, told CCTV that the PLA could strike “at any time and from any direction”, including targeting Taiwan’s energy and logistics lifelines.
Responding to criticism that the Yongan LNG terminal was a civilian facility and thus not a legitimate military target, former PLA instructor Song Zhongping said the strike simulation aligned with military norms.
“The PLA only targets energy infrastructure that the Taiwanese military depends on, not general civilian infrastructure,” Song said.
“Whether for the air force, army or navy, Taiwan’s military operates with fixed energy supply points. Striking those does not equate to harming civilian infrastructure – it reflects the PLA’s precision in targeting.”
He said that any energy or logistics installation that supported the island’s armed forces could be considered a legitimate target in a conflict scenario.
“The objective is to paralyse Taiwan’s combat and support capabilities,” Song said. “Energy assets tied to military operations are, by definition, military infrastructure.”


The drill raised concerns in Taiwan about a possible energy crisis in the case of a conflict, with natural gas powering 40 per cent of Taiwan’s electricity grid.
Taiwan-based China Times reported on Wednesday that similar PLA exercises in June last year prevented LNG ships from docking at the Yongan terminal for three days.
Most of Taiwan’s power plants are built near ports or have their own dedicated docks. The Kaohsiung terminal handles a big share of energy imports and is crucial to grid stability – making it a high-value target for a surprise PLA rocket strike.
According to Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs, over 96 per cent of the island’s strategic resources are imported. More than 70 per cent of food is shipped in, while oil and gas reserves can last just seven to 10 days under normal use.
In October, the authorities announced plans to build three new LNG receiving and storage centres in Chiayi and Kaohsiung, aiming to extend reserves from under eight days to 14. But vulnerabilities remain.
Just a week before the drills, The Wall Street Journal warned that Taiwan could soon face a full-scale air and sea blockade. Without its own supplies of water, food, fuel or energy, the island would struggle to survive a drawn-out siege.
The United States has long positioned itself as a key energy partner. In March, Raymond Greene, director of the American Institute in Taiwan’s Taipei office, said Washington was ready to supply LNG, renewables and nuclear energy to support the island.
Speaking to local media, Greene described the US as a “reliable” supplier, citing low prices, a strong environmental track record and deep ties with Taiwan’s semiconductor industry. He said Washington’s advantage in LNG and nuclear energy could form a core part of future US-Taiwan energy cooperation.


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Taiwan

PLA takes aim at Taiwan’s coastal fuel depot in Strait Thunder 2025A war games

The PLA target is similar in layout to an LNG terminal in Kaohsiung. Photo: CCTV

The Yongan LNG receiving terminal in Kaohsiung. Photo: Handout

PLA wraps up drills aimed at ‘paralysing’ Taiwan and sending message to US and Japan

Mainland Chinese ground forces conduct live-fire drills targeting simulated key infrastructure in the East China Sea on Wednesday, as part of continuing military exercises near Taiwan. Photo: CCTV

The PLA Eastern Theatre Command says the live-fire precision strike exercise by ground forces on Wednesday focused on mock ports and energy facilities and “achieved its intended objectives”. Photo: CCTV

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Two YJ-21 hypersonic anti-ship ballistic missiles can be seen on board a Chinese H-6K bomber in a video released by the People’s Liberation Army on Tuesday. Photo: PLA Eastern Theatre Command

The YJ-21 missiles are believed to be more of a threat than Russia’s Kinzhals. Photo: PLA Eastern Theatre Command

Beijing moves drills closer to Taiwan, with Shandong carrier in ‘response zone’

The PLA’s Eastern Theatre has conducted patrols and exercised air and land strikes around Taiwan on Tuesday. Photo: Xinhua via AP

Footage of the PLA aircraft carrier Shandong was included in a video released by Eastern Theatre Command on Tuesday to coincide with its joint exercises near Taiwan. Photo: Eastern Theatre Command

Screenshot from a video titled Subdue Demons and Vanquish Evils that was released by the PLA Eastern Theatre Command on Tuesday to coincide with the military exercises near Taiwan. Photo: Eastern Theatre Command

A scene from the video Subdue Demons and Vanquish Evils that was released on Tuesday in mainland China and portrays the military exercises near Taiwan as a just action. Photo: Eastern Theatre Command

Beijing confirms what Taiwan already knew: PLA did combat test near island last week

A spokesman for the PLA’s Eastern Theatre Command said of recent drills: “This is a powerful punishment for ‘Taiwan independence’ forces and a serious warning to external interference forces. It is completely legitimate and necessary”. Photo: Eastern Theatre Command

Taiwan holds combat-readiness drills in response to PLA ‘grey-zone provocations’

Taiwan’s military is conducting combat-readiness drills across the island this week. Photo: CNA

Taiwan’s defence minister said this week’s drills aimed to improve the response to provocations from the PLA. Photo: CNA

News

China

Military

Ground forces fire on drill target that looks a lot like the island’s main LNG storage facility


Ground forces fire on drill target that looks a lot like the island’s main LNG storage facility.


PLA takes aim at Taiwan’s coastal fuel depot in Strait Thunder 2025A war games

Ground forces fire on drill target that looks a lot like the island’s main LNG storage facility

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