As the United States turns its focus away from Asia and dials in on the Middle East, China is reportedly ramping up its deployment of naval power on the high seas.
The Chinese navy and coast guard have deployed 100 vessels in the East and South China Seas, according to information that two Taiwanese security officials told Reuters.
China’s presence is highly heightened when compared with the usual strength in the theater of about 50-60 ships, according to a statement that one official provided to Reuters.
However, these ships are nowhere to be seen on the map. They are all operating with their transponders turned off, according to open source websites like VesselFinder, which do not show any naval assets in the region besides a few coast guard ships at the time of this article’s publication.
“I think that China is ramping up because they know that the Americans are essentially out of power projection in the Indo-Pacific region for years,” Brandon Weichert, a former congressional staffer and national security expert, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“We’re sending two carriers to the Indo-Pacific presently, but there is no way that Trump will seriously do anything to risk a war with Xi over Taiwan,” Weichert said.
“Safeguarding the common homeland through peaceful development” was a point made by Chinese President Xi Jinping in an official Chinese Communist Party meeting. This was relayed by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Mao Ning, in an X post. This contradicts the military escalation in the area.
The Chinese and Taiwanese governments didn’t respond to a request for comment.
General Secretary Xi made four points about the development of cross-Strait relations.
1️⃣ Fostering heart-to-heart connection on the basis of correct identity.
2️⃣ Safeguarding the common homeland through peaceful development.
3️⃣ Improving public well-being through exchanges and… pic.twitter.com/IMGdX290j1— Mao Ning 毛宁 (@SpoxCHN_MaoNing) April 10, 2026
The USS Abraham Lincoln and its attached carrier strike group were initially operating in Asia before they were sent to the Middle East in January, according to reporting by Forbes.
Weichert said that these escalatory actions are dry runs for when Beijing pulls the trigger on the blockade.
“I am not yet convinced they will pull the trigger on a blockade,” Weichert said. “But they are signaling that they can, and that the US can’t stop them, hoping that the region takes note of the changes in the US defense posture and makes no calculations.”
Commercial shipping in the area appears to not have been impacted at all. Hundreds of commercial vessels are still traversing the Taiwan Strait at the time of this article’s publication, based on VesselFinder.
In the publicly available Google Maps satellite imagery, a Shaanxi KJ-500 is in plain view on the runway. The Shaanxi KJ-500 is an airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft operated by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force, according to information published by Military Factory.
Moreover, the People’s Liberation Army Navy is expanding its shipbuilding efforts, further threatening Taiwan. [Sentence giving bigger picture, re: shipbuilding. How Beijing is massively outproducing us.]
Publicly available satellite images on Google Maps seemingly show a replenishment ship being constructed by China in one of its shipbuilding yards. Replenishment ships help ferry supplies and fuel for military applications.
“Chinese shipbuilding is key,” Weichert told the Daily Caller News Foundation in an email. “They can overmatch the US Navy in that First Island Chain already. Each day, they add to that overmatch between their efficient mass production of ships and the creation of their vast missile and hypersonic and drone architecture arrayed throughout the region.”
This is not the beginning of China’s buildup in the theater. The Chinese military operates a large base in the Paracel Island archipelago. This base is so large and well occupied that it even has a full-size running track and soccer field, according to satellite images publicly available on Google Maps.
“This is a key node for Chinese power projection into the southern periphery of the First Island Chain,” Weichert said regarding the Chinese military base. “Beijing is dedicated to projecting decisive military power through this region.”
Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te is not in communication with the Chinese Communist Party. The CCP has even called him a “separatist,” according to Reuters. Taiwan’s opposition leader, Cheng Li-wun, just met with President Xi regarding relations across the Taiwan Strait.
The movement of assets from Asia to the Middle East may officially be the nail in the coffin of an official U.S. policy that was in effect for years, which became known as “the pivot to Asia.”
“Taiwan independence is the chief culprit in undermining peace in the Taiwan Strait – we will absolutely not tolerate or condone it,” Chinese President Xi Jinping told the island’s opposition leader, according to Reuters.
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