Taiwan fires HIMARS toward strait for first time as US report assesses PLA invasion plans; stocks plunge
Taiwan's military conducted a live-fire drill firing US-supplied HIMARS rockets into the Taiwan Strait for the first time, using "shoot-and-scoot" mobile launchers alongside 155mm howitzers to rehearse repelling a Chinese assault. The exercise coincided with a new US congressional report assessing that the PLA has built substantial capabilities for invading Taiwan, though success is not assured, and Foreign Affairs official Wu Chih-chung warned European media that a Chinese attack would have global consequences. Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office sharply criticized the ruling DPP for pushing cross-strait "economic decoupling," calling it "foolish," while touting 4.89 million Taiwanese visits to the mainland in 2025. On the economy, the TAIEX fell sharply intraday—down over 800 points and below 43,000—amid five days of foreign outflows, with TSMC and MediaTek hit hard. Separately, Taiwan resumed pork product exports for the first time since regaining "three-disease-free" status, shipping sausages to Singapore.
Why it matters
The first HIMARS live-fire toward the strait signals Taiwan's shift to an asymmetric "porcupine" deterrence strategy backed by US arms, even as Washington has reportedly paused a larger package of 82 additional systems. The simultaneous US congressional assessment of PLA invasion readiness underscores how central the Taiwan flashpoint remains to US-China rivalry and global security, given the island's dominance of advanced semiconductor manufacturing.
🔎 Ground signal
Local financial attention is dominated by the steep market selloff and record foreign-investor outflows, framed against external shocks (US-Iran tensions, Fed meeting). State media framing diverges sharply: Russia's RT and China's Global Times spotlight the missile drill and cross-strait tourism to portray DPP policy as reckless and isolating.