Live fire exercise zones around Taiwan divert shipping

Name: Measured effect: Live fire exercise zones around Taiwan divert shipping
Creator: World Freight Monitor
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Live fire exercise zones around Taiwan divert shipping. The disruption ran from 2022-08-04 (4 August 2022) to 2022-08-10 (10 August 2022), 7 days, affecting Taiwan Strait, Kaohsiung. Kaohsiung averaged 36.6 calls per day during the event window against an expected 35.8 (+2.2%). Taiwan Strait averaged 239.1 transits per day during the event window against an expected 240.6 (-0.6%).

Key facts

Started: 2022-08-04 (4 August 2022)
Ended: 2022-08-10 (10 August 2022)
Status: ended
Type: Security incident
Severity: 3 Significant
Scope: chokepoint
Chokepoints: Taiwan Strait
Ports: Kaohsiung
Lanes: None
Countries: Taiwan, China
Confidence: medium: The announcement of the exercises and their completion come from the theater command as carried by the state news agency, and the zone window and the rerouting from one trade press report; Taiwan's own notice to mariners is no longer online, so no source here is an official one.
First reported: 2022-08-02 (2 August 2022)

Severity basis: A restriction at a chokepoint; announced live fire zones closed water around Taiwan and in the Taiwan Strait to commercial traffic from noon on 2022-08-04, and ships were advised to route around them.

What happened

From noon on 2022-08-04 (4 August 2022) the People's Liberation Army held live fire exercises in zones around Taiwan, and merchant ships were told to keep clear of the water and airspace involved. The Eastern Theater Command announced the operations on 2022-08-02 (2 August 2022) after a visit to Taipei by the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and named areas off the northern, southwestern and southeastern coasts of the island as well as long range firing in the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan's transport ministry told vessels to avoid the zones, several of which lay near commercial ports including Kaohsiung. Traffic inside the zones thinned on the first day and ships routed around the eastern side of the island. The announced windows ran to noon on 2022-08-07, and the command said on 2022-08-10 (10 August 2022) that it had finished.

Measured effect

Transits, all vessel types, Taiwan Strait

Baseline (expected): 240.6 transits per day
Observed: 239.1 transits per day
Change: -1.5 (-0.6%)
Standardised score: -0.1
Event window: 2022-08-04 to 2022-08-10 (7 days)
Baseline window: 2022-06-02 to 2022-07-27 (56 valid days)
Method: wfm-effect-1.0
Computed: 2026-09-19 (19 September 2026), data revision 1:62a0ebf7f480

Source: IMF PortWatch (portwatch.imf.org), International Monetary Fund, using UN Global Platform AIS data. Statistics derived by World Freight Monitor. Terms.

This is a measured change in public data during the event window, compared with a baseline before it. It shows timing, not cause. We describe an event as causing a change only when an official source says so.

Port calls, Kaohsiung

Baseline (expected): 35.8 calls per day
Observed: 36.6 calls per day
Change: +0.8 (+2.2%)
Standardised score: +0.1
Event window: 2022-08-04 to 2022-08-10 (7 days)
Baseline window: 2022-06-02 to 2022-07-27 (56 valid days)
Method: wfm-effect-1.0
Computed: 2026-09-19 (19 September 2026), data revision 1:ee15fff74908

Source: IMF PortWatch (portwatch.imf.org), International Monetary Fund, using UN Global Platform AIS data. Statistics derived by World Freight Monitor. Terms.

Timeline

2022-08-02The Eastern Theater Command announces joint military operations in the water and airspace around Taiwan, including long range live firing in the Taiwan Strait and missile tests off the eastern coast. [s1]
2022-08-04The exercises begin at noon in six zones announced to run until noon on 2022-08-07. Traffic inside them falls during the day, ships route around the eastern side of the island at a cost of about three days, and Taiwan's transport ministry tells vessels to avoid the areas. [s3]
2022-08-10The Eastern Theater Command says it has completed all tasks in the series of operations around Taiwan and will continue patrols in the strait. [s2]

Cause

The Eastern Theater Command said the exercises were a response to what it called an escalation by the United States on the Taiwan question and a warning against moves towards Taiwanese independence. Attributed by: People's Liberation Army Eastern Theater Command. [s1] [s2]

Resolution

2022-08-10 (10 August 2022): The announced zone windows expired at noon on 2022-08-07, and the Eastern Theater Command said on 2022-08-10 that the operations were finished, after which commercial routing around Taiwan returned to its usual pattern. [s2] [s3]

Corrections

No corrections to this record as of 2026-09-16 (16 September 2026).

Sources

[s1] Xinhua, PLA Eastern Theater Command to launch joint military operations around Taiwan Island, published 2022-08-03 (3 August 2022), accessed 2026-09-15. Archived copy. (press)
[s2] Xinhua, PLA Eastern Theater Command fulfills all tasks of joint military operations around Taiwan, published 2022-08-10 (10 August 2022), accessed 2026-09-15. Archived copy. (press)
[s3] TIME, China's Military Exercises Around Taiwan Are Forcing Shippers to Change Routes, published 2022-08-04 (4 August 2022), accessed 2026-09-15. Archived copy. (press)