Taiwan Claims Ten Chinese Aircraft Crossed Strait Median Line

Facts

• Taiwan's defense minister on Saturday sent combat aircraft to warn away nine Chinese fighter jets and one military drone that crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait in the 24 hours to 6am, while Taiwanese missile systems monitored them.¹
• This latest incursion comes a day after nine Chinese aircraft crossed the unofficial median line buffer between the mainland and the island, reportedly carrying out combat readiness patrols.²
• While the median line has never been officially recognized by Beijing, the People's Liberation Army — which has been conducting military activities near the island since August — had until very recently respected it.³
• Tensions have been further mounting since Taiwan's Pres. Tsai Ing-wen arrived in the US last Wednesday on her way to Central America, with Beijing threatening to retaliate if she meets US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during her transit.⁴
• Tsai is expected to meet McCarthy on April 5, when she visits Los Angeles, but the PRC has consistently claimed that Taiwan and the US are colluding to push for the island's full independence.⁵
• Meanwhile, former Taiwanese Pres. Ma Ying-jeou has been on a historic peacebuilding visit to China's mainland, the first by a current or former leader of the island since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949. The trip comes ahead of Taiwan's presidential elections in January next year.⁶

Sources: ¹Al Jazeera, ²Guardian, ³Reuters, ⁴Taipei times, ⁵FOX News and ⁶Voa.

Narratives

• Pro-China narrative, as provided by Global times. The island of Taiwan has been an integral part of the Chinese territory for centuries. However, the Chinese people on both sides of the Straits are yet to be reunified following the 1949 split. Beijing has long sought to peacefully reunify the motherland, but secessionist Taiwanese officials backed by the US have recently begun to pursue provocative actions that are threatening the status quo. Given the current political climate, the PRC will take all necessary measures to achieve this goal.
• Anti-China narrative, as provided by Taipei times. Taiwan is continuing to receive support from the West in a joint stand against the CCP's aggression toward the island nation. Just as China's behavior concerning Hong Kong and its management of COVID has destroyed previous assumptions of its peaceful intentions, Beijing's belligerence and Xi Jinping's reckless actions reveal its stance on Taiwan, which becomes more internationally unpopular by the day.

Predictions