In Maps: China’s Military Activity in the Indo-Pacific
China is expanding its military operations and infrastructure throughout the Indo-Pacific region. Here's where, and what it means.
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by Andrew Thornebrooke
September 10, 2025
China is expanding its military reach throughout the Indo-Pacific, challenging U.S.-led security that has dominated global sea lanes for decades.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is building bases, securing military port access in foreign nations, and deepening naval partnerships across multiple regions. The regime’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA), is likewise conducting military drills thousands of miles from China.
The increasing ambition demonstrated by the CCP poses a challenge to international policymakers, who are striving to contain China and its military coercion.
Here’s a look at how the CCP is expanding its military footprint across the Indo-Pacific.
Crossing the Median Line
The CCP’s push to expand its military presence throughout the seas begins close to home, in the Taiwan Strait.
Chinese regime officials have claimed for decades that the territory of Taiwan is part of the mainland, though the CCP has never controlled any part of Taiwan. Beijing has ramped up its rhetoric and military maneuvers in recent years to suggest an increased willingness to intimidate and possibly invade the independent island and its surrounding territories.
One key metric of this aggression is Chinese crossings of the so-called median line, a boundary drawn roughly down the middle of the strait between China and Taiwan.
