On Double Ten National Day, the Chinese military “joined” the celebration by sending fighter jets into Taiwan’s southwestern air defense identification zone.
The following morning, Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said that China had exacerbated cross-strait animosity by ordering its warplanes to cross the median line of the Taiwan Strait. To Chiu, the military encroachments have been nothing but provocation.
Whether it is the minister’s remarks or the military situation across the Strait, the threat that Chinese forces pose has remained an issue of national security. Strictly speaking, the moment Chinese military aircraft cross the median line — thereby upending a tacit agreement that the line serves as a border between Taiwan and China — the conflict has escalated to the brink of war.
Although China presumably does not have the ability to mount a “full-scale” invasion of Taiwan before 2027, its military’s repeated crossings and its relentless saber rattling in the waters around Taiwan following large-scale drills in August imply that Beijing is seeking to change the “status quo” across the Strait with every means available, a development Taipei needs to take extra caution in addressing.
Cross-strait tensions have remained high, as military action by definition operates in a dynamic field and defies a static explanation.
Taiwan’s military has adopted the principle of nonaggression and does not cross the median line during drills. When the navy and air force set the perimeters for their exercises, they follow the rule of not transgressing Chinese sovereignty.
Taiwan has abided by international law and has conducted military exercises according to its protocols. In contrast, it was the Chinese military that first crossed the median line and it has since kept sending warplanes into Taiwan’s southwestern air defense identification zone.
Beijing has not only tried to destroy the tacit military understanding between the two nations, it has also expanded military installations in the South China Sea in a similarly ill-intentioned move.
In Chiu’s remarks, he simply laid out the facts about the Chinese military without any sugarcoating.
In the digital age, it is crucial that people learn to filter the barrage of information they face, and improve their understanding and knowledge of military facts.
Ray Song is a doctoral student in Tamkang University’s Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies.
Translated by Rita Wang
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