Taiwan Strait

Taiwanese Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung said China’s aggressive military drills are intended to “nibble away” at the island’s territory.

A recent study by the conservative think-tank Heritage Foundation warns a Chinese government takeover of the democratic nation of Taiwan would have huge economic and security consequences for America.

Taiwan’s National Security Bureau director says China will increase intimidation efforts against Lai Ching-te’s administration.

China’s unwelcome Lunar New Year gift to Taiwan was an enormous swarm of 16 mysterious weather balloons, several of which passed over land.

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China sent several large formations of combat aircraft toward Taiwan on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Chinese Communist government on Sunday claimed the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) appropriately handled a “provocative transit” by American and Canadian warships through the Strait of Taiwan on Saturday.

A U.S. Navy warship sailed through the contested waters separating Taiwan and mainland China on Sunday just days after Beijing concluded week-long war games around the self-ruled, independent island.

Taiwanese Foreign Ministry Joseph Wu told Sky News on Wednesday that China is growing “more likely” to invade as Chinese dictator Xi Jinping’s domestic problems grow more serious.

China launched its largest incursion to date into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) on Sunday. 71 Chinese military aircraft entered the ADIZ in a span of 24 hours, 43 of them also crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait, the unofficial border between the mainland People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the island-based Republic of China (ROC).

The Indian government’s representative office in Sri Lanka used the term “militarization” in a post on Twitter on Saturday to describe China’s recent actions in the Taiwan Strait, which separates the sovereign island nation of Taiwan from China’s southeastern coast, the Hindu reported on Sunday, noting that it was the first time New Delhi had used such strong rhetoric to refer to the China-Taiwan dispute.

A pair of U.S. warships sailed through the flashpoint Taiwan Strait on Sunday in the first such transit since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s surprise visit to Taiwan earlier month.

Taiwan on Thursday debuted a defense budget that would increase military spending by 13.9 percent over 2021 spending, a considerably higher increase than suggested by legislators – but still not nearly enough to counter the threat of a Chinese invasion, according to defense analysts.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying dumped a string of eight posts on Twitter on Sunday night, ostensibly refuting American criticism that China is “overreacting” to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. Chinese state media on Monday hailed Hua’s Twitter thread as a “powerful rejection” of the U.S. position.

The Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong made a provocative passage through the Strait of Taiwan on Friday, just hours ahead of a scheduled phone call between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese dictator Xi Jinping.

A record-breaking 38 Chinese military aircraft penetrated Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) on Friday, forcing the island to deploy its air defense missile system to monitor the incursion, Taiwan News reported.

The UK announced new military talks with Japan just hours after China protested Britain sailing a warship through the Taiwan Strait. 

A British warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Monday, a move that challenges Beijing’s claim to the sensitive waterway and marks a rare voyage by a non-US military vessel.

The Taiwanese Defense Ministry on Monday complained about a “high frequency of harassment and threats” from the Chinese military throughout 2020 and asserted its right to “self-defense and to counter attack,” although it pledged to avoid escalation.

The Taiwanese air force scrambled fighters on Friday as 18 Chinese warplanes swarmed across the midpoint of the Taiwan Strait, part of an aggressive Chinese military exercise meant to intimidate visiting U.S. Under Secretary for Economic Affairs Keith Krach.

The USS Russell, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Thursday, the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. It was the seventh U.S. Navy transit of the strait in 2020, and the second such passage in the past three weeks.

The Navy said it is “fully aware” and remains “operationally ready” in response to a Chinese deployment of a carrier strike group.

China sailed its newest aircraft carrier through the Taiwan Strait for the second time on Thursday as it stepped up its claims in the South China Sea, the Taiwanese Defense Ministry has announced.

The Taiwanese military staged its largest live-fire military drill in five years on Wednesday morning, sending 20 warships and 22 jet fighters to simulate repelling a Chinese raid on an important military port and dealing with a massive air attack across the Taiwan Strait.

U.S. warships sailed through the Strait of Taiwan on Sunday, the latest in a series of passages that have irked China because they demonstrate America’s commitment to defend Taiwan and protect freedom of navigation around the world.

U.S. officials confirmed on Wednesday that the French frigate Vendemiaire sailed through the Strait of Taiwan on April 6 and Chinese military vessels shadowed it.

Two Chinese fighter jets violated the airspace of Taiwan on Sunday, prompting the island to scramble its own fighters and warn the Chinese planes away. U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton denounced China’s behavior on Monday as a “provocation” that will only strengthen Taiwan’s resolve.

The U.S. sailed warships through the Taiwan Strait this weekend, leading to anger from Beijing who warned such actions could further undermine relations between the two countries. 

Two U.S. warships passed through the Taiwan Strait on Thursday in a Freedom of Navigation Patrol (FONOP). The passage was taken by Taiwan as a heartening show of American support, and by China as an annoying challenge to its military might and territorial integrity.

China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has greatly increased its presence in the Taiwan Strait, part of the greater South China Sea, in response to the growing number of freedom of navigation operations by the U.S. Navy, the South China Morning Post reported on Monday.

Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe told a security forum on Thursday that China will use military force to prevent Taiwan from asserting its independence.

The U.S. Navy confirmed Monday that it sent two warships through the Taiwan Strait earlier in the day, in a move that is likely to irk China.

The U.S. Navy has sailed ships through the Taiwan Strait throughout the last decade but normally kept those operations quiet — perhaps out of concern it would provoke China, who considers Taiwan its territory and the Taiwan Strait its territorial waters.