Pacific Weekly #80
Good morning and happy Sunday,
This is Pacific Weekly, a premium exclusive of The Intel Brief intended to keep you updated on events across the hotly contested Indo-Pacific region.
Reporting Period: December 22-28, 2025
Bottom-Line Up Front:
1. On December 19, Chinese state television aired footage of a PLA wargame taking place near U.S. territorial waters. The rare footage showed how China plans to conduct large, long-range military operations, and displays China’s ambitions to have a global-capable military. The footage was later removed from CCTV’s website.
2. Open-source information circulating social media and defense outlets showed a Chinese cargo ship fitted with containerized missile launchers. The images also show a radar and air defense system on board. The vessel was photographed in port in Shanghai and marks a significant leap in China’s hybrid warfare capability.
3. On December 23, the Department of Defense (DoD) published its annual report on Chinese military and security developments. The report was published and provided to Congress. It details China's progress on fielding a “world-class” military and Beijing’s focus on the First Island Chain.
Chinese State Television Reveals PLA Wargame Near Mexico, Cuba
Summary
On December 19, Chinese state television aired footage of a PLA wargame taking place near U.S. territorial waters. The rare footage showed how China plans to conduct large, long-range military operations, and displays China’s ambitions to have a global-capable military. The footage was later removed from CCTV’s website.
Findings
CCTV Broadcast: On December 24, South China Morning Post confirmed that China’s national television broadcaster, China Central Television (CCTV) featured a segment on a simulated wargame in the waters south of Cuba and east of Mexico (SCMP).
The CCTV broadcast originally aired on December 19 and showcased a PLA wargaming event held in Xuchang, Henan province (SCMP, X). One observer reports that the wargame included footage from Cuba, the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, Japan, the Sea of Okhotsk, and the waters around Taiwan (X).
The footage appears to depict naval maneuvers and aviation operations (including OCA and DCA) to serve as shaping operations for future assaults.
Purpose: The wargaming event in Xuchang was reportedly organized for PLA units to rehearse large-scale command and control operations, as well as operational planning in distant theaters (SCMP). This includes coordinating naval task groups, conducting long-range aviation operations, and attacking carrier groups, bases, and forward logistics hubs belonging to a “major power” (GeoView).
Removed Footage: The same observer on X states that CCTV appears to have removed the original broadcast from its website (X).
Why This Matters
While CCTV framed the simulations as training tools, the scenarios represent a rare public glimpse into how PLA planners are thinking about operations far outside the Indo-Pacific’s First Island Chain. Additionally, the wargames suggest Beijing has a strategic appetite that exceeds Taiwan and the immediate Indo-Pacific. It also suggests that the PLA may be planning for a multi-theater conflict that includes long-range strikes and C2 operations.
Finally, the geographic scope of the wargames, particularly near U.S. waters, suggests Beijing intends to engage in long-term competition with the United States, rather than cooperation or partnership. It also implies that China will actively seek to retain control of its port holdings around the Panama Canal to facilitate the movement of vessels from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean.
Photos Show China Weaponizing Cargo Ships
Summary
Open-source information circulating social media and defense outlets showed a Chinese cargo ship fitted with containerized missile launchers. The images also show a radar and air defense system on board. The vessel was photographed in port in Shanghai and marks a significant leap in China’s hybrid warfare capability.
Findings
Armed Cargo Vessel: On December 25, reports emerged of a “medium-sized cargo ship” loaded with “containerized vertical launchers,” an organic radar, and a close-in weapons system (CIWS) for anti-projectile defense (The Warzone, Newsweek). The vessel, photographed in Shanghai, has been identified as the Zhong Da 79 (Newsweek).
Armament: The images of the vessel depict what appears to be a radar unit and a CIWS system for anti-projectile defense. One open-source analyst suggests that, based on the number of containers and size of the vertical launch systems (VLS), the cargo ship could have anywhere from 48 to 60 VLSs onboard (X). If that armament is accurate, then the cargo vessel has “two-thirds the VLS capacity” of the American Arleigh Burke class destroyer (The Warzone).
Why This Matters
If the image analysis is to be believed, then this cargo vessel represents a significant leap by China to expand naval modernization in addition to plans to leverage its large commercial shipping and fishing fleet for military use.
While the visuals are compelling, no official Chinese military or government sources have confirmed the vessel’s status, weapons load-out, or operational purpose. Some online commentary notes that the configuration could be a test, an improvisation, or deception.
This is a dangerous and threatening concept though. With this capability, China could expand its first strike capability by having a rapidly deployable and expendable fleet of cargo ships ready to conduct strikes on key naval bases, logistics hubs, or fleets across the globe.
DoD Publishes Annual Report To Congress On Chinese Military Developments
Summary
On December 23, the Department of Defense (DoD) published its annual report on Chinese military and security developments. The report was published and provided to Congress. It details China's progress on fielding a “world-class” military and Beijing’s focus on the First Island Chain.
Findings
Background: The DoD, by direction of the U.S. Congress, has been providing America’s lawmakers with an annual report “on military and security developments relating to the People’s Republic of China” for twenty-five years (Department of Defense).
Preface: The report begins by prefacing the DoD’s role in managing U.S.-China relations during President Trump’s second term. The DoD will open “a wider range of military-to-military communications with the PLA with a focus of strategic stability as well as deconfliction and de-escalation” while ensuring the “Joint Force is always ready and able to defend our nation’s interests in the Indo-Pacific” (Department of Defense). The strategy is to “deny the ability of any country in the Indo-Pacific to dominate us or our allies,” which the DoD plans to preserve through “bolstering deterrence” (Department of Defense).
Executive Summary: The executive summary highlights the key developments, PLA initiatives, and focal areas for the DoD as of 2025.
China has:
China has “marshaled resources, technology, and political will to achieve its vision of a world-class military,” with Xi Jinping’s stated goal of achieving this by 2049 (Department of Defense).
The PLA “measures its concepts and capabilities” against the United States (Department of Defense).
China’s buildup “has made the U.S. homeland increasingly vulnerable” due to a growing arsenal of “nuclear, maritime, and conventional long-range strike, cyber, and space capabilities” (Department of Defense).
China has proven its ability and willingness to “burrow into U.S. critical infrastructure” (Department of Defense).
The PLA has made “steady progress towards its 2027 goals” of establishing a “strategic counterbalance against the United States in nuclear and other strategic domains” and fighting and winning “a war on Taiwan by the end of 2027” (Department of Defense).
China has reinforced its ability to militarily coerce Taiwanese unification, with options including “amphibious invasion, firepower strike, and possibly a maritime blockade” during scenarios that include striking American forces in the Pacific (Department of Defense).
China’s defense spending continues to grow, as does Beijing’s military and technological innovation (Department of Defense).
Why This Matters
The annual report also details five chapters on China’s strategy and relations with the United States, the PLA’s strategy and capabilities observed in 2024, the PLA force employment, Chinese defense spending, and a special topics assessment.
The report is particularly valuable for detailing where China is outpacing the United States, and could be integral in shaping policy and investment (especially regarding AI, shipbuilding, and defense spending efforts to bolster our Indo-Pacific posture).
End Brief
That concludes this edition of Pacific Weekly.
Thank you for reading!
— Nick
This publication is an Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) product and does not contain Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) or Classified Information.