The 25 Chinese fighter jets, bombers and other warplanes flew in menacing formations off the southern end of Taiwan, a show of military might on China’s National Day, Oct. 1. The incursions,dozens upon dozens, continued into the night and the days that followed and surged to the highest numbers ever on Monday, when 56 warplanes tested Taiwan’s beleaguered air defenses.
Taiwan’s jets scrambled to keep up, while the United States warned China that its “provocative military activity” undermined “regional peace and stability.” China did not cower. When a Taiwanese combat air traffic controller radioed one Chinese aircraft, the pilot dismissed the challenge with an obscenity involving the officer’s mother.
As such confrontations intensify, the balance of power around Taiwan is fundamentally shifting, pushing a decades-long impasse over its future into a dangerous new phase.
After holding out against unification demands from China’s communist rulers for more than 70 years, Taiwan is now at the heart of the deepening discord between China and the United States. The island’s fate has the potential to reshape the regional order and even to ignite a military conflagration — intentional or not. » | By Chris Buckley and Steven Lee Myers | Saturday, October 9, 2021
Related.
Xi bekräftigt Anspruch auf "Wiedervereinigung" mit Taiwan: Mitten in einer angespannten Lage betont Chinas Staats- und Parteichef den Grundsatz der „friedlichen Wiedervereinigung“ mit Taiwan. Dieser spielt eine zentrale Rolle in der Ideologie der KP. »
