China is using military drills, conducted without warning and using live ammunition, as a pretext for further encroachment on Taiwanese territory, National Defense University researcher Ma Chen-kun (馬振坤) said on Tuesday. The use of live ammunition meant the drills risked developing into combat, and likely represented a scenario in which Beijing could authorize the use of military force to deter “Taiwanese independence activities,” he said.
China used the drills to “further approach the 12 nautical mile [22.2km] baseline of Taiwan’s territorial waters,” and could have been “a pretext to break into Taiwan’s 24 nautical mile contiguous zone,” he said.
However, China did not enter Taiwan’s territorial waters, nor did it enter Taiwan’s contiguous zone, which means that the drills were held in international waters. China might also say that its crossing of the Strait’s median line — defined in 1955 by US Air Force general Benjamin Davis — was not an escalation, as it is a marker Beijing has never recognized. Other countries hold drills in international waters, so from China’s perspective, its actions were not provocative.
That is not to suggest the Chinese naval drills are not harmful to Taiwan’s interests. They might not directly affect Taiwanese sovereignty, but they represent Beijing’s “gray zone” tactics, which seek to gradually push the boundaries of what it can get away with before other countries take action.
As such, China is likely to conduct combat readiness patrols more frequently and without warning, to further pressure Taiwan’s defense lines at sea and in the air, Ma said. This could force Taiwan to waste resources, wear down troops and equipment, and decrease military and public morale whenever accidents might occur.
The US and other countries are keen to assert that the Taiwan Strait comprises international waters, as they should be. Even if Taiwan were under the administration of the People’s Republic of China, the majority of the strait would remain outside of its 12 nautical-mile zone.
The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea stipulates that “every state has the right to establish the breadth of its territorial sea up to a limit not exceeding 12 nautical miles, measured from baselines determined in accordance with this convention.”
However, China, despite being a UN member, has said on other occasions that it does not recognize the Taiwan Strait or much of the South China Sea as being international waters. By exerting claims — often through dangerous, confrontational behavior — that run contrary to international norms, China is putting at risk the commercial interests of the nations that rely on uninhibited passage through the Indo-Pacific region.
Taiwan should encourage the US and other countries to hold joint drills in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea. Several countries already regularly pass through these areas to assert freedom of navigation, and there is no reason they could not also hold drills with Taiwan in the region.
Protesting every time China holds drills in international waters is not productive, and doing so does not deter China. Instead, Taiwan and other countries should take action to show Beijing that it is not the only country that can hold drills at whim, ask others to halt air and sea traffic, and flex its military muscle to demonstrate a resolve to push back if pushed.
If Taiwan, the US and other countries start flying, sailing and launching missiles near China’s shores, perhaps Beijing might get the message to back off.
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
In an article published on this page on Tuesday, Kaohsiung-based journalist Julien Oeuillet wrote that “legions of people worldwide would care if a disaster occurred in South Korea or Japan, but the same people would not bat an eyelid if Taiwan disappeared.” That is quite a statement. We are constantly reading about the importance of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), hailed in Taiwan as the nation’s “silicon shield” protecting it from hostile foreign forces such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and so crucial to the global supply chain for semiconductors that its loss would cost the global economy US$1
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
Sasha B. Chhabra’s column (“Michelle Yeoh should no longer be welcome,” March 26, page 8) lamented an Instagram post by renowned actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) about her recent visit to “Taipei, China.” It is Chhabra’s opinion that, in response to parroting Beijing’s propaganda about the status of Taiwan, Yeoh should be banned from entering this nation and her films cut off from funding by government-backed agencies, as well as disqualified from competing in the Golden Horse Awards. She and other celebrities, he wrote, must be made to understand “that there are consequences for their actions if they become political pawns of