Twenty-one Chinese military aircraft have been detected around the island of Taiwan since 8:15 a.m. (local time), the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense announced this Saturday, April 20. Among them, “seventeen planes crossed the median line” of the Taiwan Strait, the ministry said in a statement, an unofficial demarcation between China and Taiwan that the former does not recognize.
Taiwan’s armed forces “observe these activities using surveillance systems and have deployed appropriate means to respond accordingly.” Taiwan is an autonomous island that Beijing claims as part of its territory and which it wants to seize one day, by force if necessary.
The increase in incursions by Chinese aircraft is part of what experts call the “gray zone” strategy, that is to say actions of intimidation which do not go as far as acts of war against strictly speaking. These actions have intensified since the 2016 election of President Tsai Ing-wen, who considers Taiwan to be de facto “already independent,” a red line for Beijing.
The president must give up her place in a month, on May 20, to the current vice-president, Lai Ching-te, a member of the Progressive Democratic Party (DPP) like her. Winner of the presidential election of January 13, he is also in favor of a firm line against Beijing.