China is rapidly modernizing and building up its military and paramilitary forces, providing Beijing with greater capacity to challenge and intimidate its neighbors. This report leverages open-source data to analyze observable trends in People’s Liberation Army (PLA) activities in 2025 with a focus on key developments in the Indo-Pacific region. In 2025, China’s military activity increased in the Taiwan Strait, South China Sea, near Japan, and beyond the First Island Chain, reflecting an overall rise in operational tempo and geographic reach. Of the areas surveyed in this report, the only one to show a decrease in operational tempo is the China-Russia joint exercises.

Full analysis : Open-source data shows that China has increased its military activities in the Indo-Pacific.