China shows ambitions, intentions and power before Trump takes office

• China has been busy lately showing off its military might and hybrid warfare tactics.
• The moves come ahead of Trump’s return to the White House this month.
• Its activities highlight China’s ambitions and goals and the challenge it presents.

Since the 2024 US presidential election, China has been surprisingly busy with overt and covert displays of power that pose a challenge to the US, both the current and future administrations.

China, long identified as the Pentagon’s “pace challenge,” has flexed new military capabilities, increased pressure on U.S. allies and partners, and engaged in hybrid warfare in cyberspace.

Over the past two months, China’s next-generation fighter jets have allegedly appeared, China’s navy has launched new warships, the Chinese military has simulated a naval blockade of Japan for the first time, and conducted massive exercises near Taiwan, the U.S. blamed the Chinese. hackers for major hacks of the Treasury Department and telecommunications firms, and concerns have been raised about China’s involvement in damaging critical underwater infrastructure.

Some of Beijing’s recent actions may be “part of a long-term strategy to shape the administration’s new (or reversed) approach to China and deter outside support for Taiwan,” Matthew Funaiole, a senior fellow with the China Energy Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Business Insider said.

China has flexed its military muscles in a big way

China deployed about 90 of its navy and coast guard ships around Taiwan, as well as the southern Japanese islands, for a large-scale exercise, Taiwan said in December. Beijing has not announced anything ahead of time and has not accepted it as a military exercise.

Taiwan recorded more than 60 incursions into its air defense identification zone and said Chinese forces were simulating attacks on foreign ships and obstructing the navigation of others.

The exercise was China’s largest since the 1996 Taiwan Strait crisis. It followed a visit by Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te to several Pacific partners, which Beijing condemned, and came before Trump’s return to the White House. China routinely ramps up displays of military power at symbolic times important to both international and domestic audiences.

Giselle Donnelly, a senior fellow for defense and national security policy at the American Enterprise Institute, said the timing of these drills “is more than coincidental,” not unlike Russian President Vladimir Putin’s efforts in recent months to exercise pressure on Ukraine before. Trump takes office and US aid to Kiev faces an uncertain future.

The Chinese leadership may see exercises like this as a way to get an “early read” of the incoming Trump administration’s approach to US-China policy, she added.

In December, China also held military exercises resembling a naval blockade in the Miyako Strait between Japan’s main island and Miyako Island, Japanese officials told The Yomiuri Shimbun, which reported the news earlier this month.

And just before the bell rang in 2025, China announced that its air and naval forces were conducting combat readiness patrols around Scarborough Shoal, a disputed area in the South China Sea near the Philippines that has been the site of increased and repeated confrontations. between Beijing and Manila last year. . Chinese ships were accused of harassing Philippine ships, in some cases ramming them and blasting their crews with water.

China has discovered new capabilities

In November, China unveiled advanced aircraft at its Zhuhai air show, including the J-35A ground-based stealth fighter. The Chinese developer hailed the stealth, intelligence and networking capabilities of the fifth-generation jet, calling it a “point guard” for Chinese air power — similar to how the F-35 stealth fighter has been referred to as a “central defender” by Lockheed. Martin and the US Army.

However, the next month, China surprised Chinese aviation watchers with what observers suspect are prototypes of next-generation aircraft. The Pentagon said in its latest report on Chinese military power that Beijing is developing new medium- and long-range stealth bombers to strike regional and global targets.” It is unclear whether the aircraft, which was flown in broad daylight , is part of these efforts.

China also launched the CNS Sichuan warship, China’s first Type 076 ship, and the world’s largest amphibious assault ship – an upgrade from China’s Type 075 warship. The large ship features an electromagnetic catapult system for launching and retrieving aircraft with fixed wing and pilotless.

For several years, the US Defense Department has pointed to China’s growing navy, now the world’s largest, and shipbuilding capabilities as the industrial juggernaut builds new ships.

China has been called out for dangerous cyber activities

Washington has accused Chinese actors of involvement in major hacks recently.

Just before the new year, the Treasury revealed that suspected state-sponsored Chinese hackers had breached its systems and were able to “access some unclassified documents” from the department’s workstations. The department said it was working “to fully characterize the incident and determine its overall impact.”

The hack followed the discovery of a years-long breach by China of US telecommunications companies. The main targets of the hack included Trump, his vice presidential pick, JD Vance, and current vice president Kamala Harris. Washington linked the hack to an incident involving Microsoft last summer. Lawmakers have expressed concern that encrypted phone calls and messages may no longer be secure.

White House Deputy National Security Adviser Anne Neuberger said data belonging to millions of Americans may have been compromised by the hack and noted that the US does not believe the hackers have been “completely removed” from the systems. intended.

Chinese actors are also believed to have accessed the Justice Department’s list of tapped phone numbers related to potential espionage crimes. There have long been concerns about China’s hybrid warfare and its potential for systems-destroying warfare in a crisis situation.

China has also been accused of sabotaging submarine cables near Taiwan and has been linked to an incident in the Baltic Sea. Experts and officials have said the efforts are in line with the larger hybrid warfare tactics used by Beijing.

Over the past two months, China has demonstrated capabilities and engaged in actions that represent potential challenges to the US and its allies and partners. These are issues that the incoming Trump administration will continue to grapple with.

And it’s not just China. US and other Western officials have increasingly expressed alarm at cooperation between China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, all of which have stepped up their efforts to confront the US-led world order.