New Bloom (Taipei) — Chinese military activities around Taiwan have visibly escalated in past weeks. Apart from military exercises conducted in the area, a visit to Taiwan by US Undersecretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Keith Krach saw consecutive days of warplanes sent into Taiwanese airspace.

Chinese warplanes crossed the median of the Taiwan Strait or Taiwan’s southwest air defense identification zone daily from September 17 to 19, and again from September 21 to 23. In other words, air intrusions occurred for six out of the past seven days.

The Chinese government announced that it would no longer recognize the median line of the Taiwan Strait on September 21. China Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin stated that there was no such thing as the median line in the Taiwan Strait due to the fact that Taiwan is part of China. Reportedly, when warned by radio by the Taiwanese air force that they had crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, Chinese pilots responded that there “was no median line” starting from September 18.

Chinese warplanes began to cross the median line of the Taiwan Strait only last year. The first time in twenty years that Chinese warplanes deliberately crossed the median line took place in March 2019.

The concept of the median line in the Taiwan Strait is not officially recognized by international law, nor has China ever recognized it. However, the concept is believed to have been established by the United States in 1954 as a barrier to conflict between the Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The coordinates of the median line were revealed by then-Minister of Defense Lee Jye in May 2004.

Given this recent uptick in Chinese military activity, it may not be surprising that some panic took place because of low flying fighter planes from the Republic of China Air Force that were rehearsing for National Day commemorations on October 10.

Taiwan’s hands are tied when it comes to invasions of Taiwanese airspace by Chinese warplanes. It is possible that ceasing to recognize the median line of the Taiwan Straits and sending Chinese warplanes into Taiwanese airspace may be aimed at baiting Taiwan. For example, if Taiwan were to retaliate against Chinese warplanes—even if China attacked first—this could provide pretext for larger-scale Chinese military assaults.

The ratcheting up of Chinese threats against Taiwan is related to the upgrading of ties between the United States and Taiwan over the past months, with historic diplomatic visits by high-ranking US government officials including Krach and Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar. Chinese threats against Taiwan are also used as a means of signaling anger against the United States in the course of the US-China trade war and what many have described as a “new Cold War” in threatening Taiwan as a proxy without escalating to the point of directly targeting the United States.

According to commercial satellite photos released by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, China’s construction of its third aircraft carrier continues apace. Reports from earlier this year suggest that the speed of construction of the third and fourth aircraft carriers is increasing.

China may also carry out maritime actions aimed at pressuring Taiwan. Illegal sand dredging by Chinese vessels frequently takes place off the coast of Taiwan’s outlying islands, potentially proving a danger if civilian vessels are used to stage aggressive activity. To this extent, the interception of a speedboat with twelve Hongkongers attempting to flee to Taiwan was an event that made international headlines last month. China also conducted naval exercises off of the shores of the Pratas-Dongsha Islands earlier this month, which are disputed territory but currently administered by Taiwan, and there are reports of increased commercial maritime activity by Chinese vessels around the islands.

This article was originally published in New Bloom.

For breaking news, follow on Twitter @ShingetsuNews