FEATURE | Taiwan says China spent 40 per cent more on Pacific drills last year to hit $21b

"China's ongoing military expansion and grey-zone provocations are severely undermining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region," Taiwan's defence ministry said in a statement to Reuters, which did not address the report's spending and other estimates.

In 2024, Chinese aircraft, including J-10 fighter jets, H-6 bombers, and drones, made nearly 12,000 flights in the region, amounting to about 37,000 hours in the air, the report shows. Those both represent roughly a 30 per cent increase from the year before, the officials said.

The Chinese Navy made more than 86,000 sailings, including of aircraft carriers and destroyers, amounting to a total time at sea of more than two million hours, about a 20 per cent increase from a year ago for both metrics, the report said.