Drills conducted?on Monday by the People's Liberation Army around Taiwan?were staged closer to the island than the 2022 exercises that followed a provocative visit?to Taiwan by a senior US politician, an expert has said.

Meng Xiangqing, a professor at the PLA National Defense University, said that, based on the exercise map released by the PLA Eastern Theater Command, Monday's drill areas were closer to Taiwan than the 2022 encirclement drills conducted after then United States house speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island.

"The encirclement chain has been tightened, closer and closer, and it underscores the features of full coverage, no blind spots, and an integrated blockade-and-strike approach," Meng said.

Shi Yi, a spokesperson for the PLA Eastern Theater Command, announced on Monday morning that his command had begun to carry out the "Justice Mission 2025" exercise to surround Taiwan island.

Meng said the island is small and has little strategic depth for defense, making it unable to withstand prolonged combat. He added that it also "severely lacks strategic resources, and that its routes of maritime transport, energy and supply are, without doubt, its lifelines."

"The layout of the five drill areas this time is basically positioned along the island's lifelines," Meng added, pointing out that two areas were located north of the island and close to the waters off Keelung port, effectively forming a blockade of the important port.

The expert said that two other areas were located to the south, close to the waters off Kaohsiung, which he said would amount to cutting off the island's largest sea routes and creating a "shut-the-door-and-hit-the-dog" scenario against military bases key to Taiwan's regional forces.

Another area was located to the east, pointing directly at the island's main eastern access route for external support, demonstrating the PLA's capability to stop outside forces from intervening, he said.

"The drills therefore highlighted new features such as internal blockade, integrated blockade-and-strike operations, external denial, sea-and-air interdiction, and the ability to counter enemies at both near and long ranges," said Meng.

According to the professor, the drills sent an important message: seeking "independence" by relying on external forces is a dead end, and returning to the motherland is the only correct course.