China's military escalation toward Taiwan has visibly escalated in past weeks. Apart from military exercises conducted in the region, a visit to Taiwan by American Undersecretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Keith Krach saw multiple consecutive days of warplanes sent into Taiwanese airspace...
A political spat between high-ranking KMT and DPP politicians broke out last month after comments by former president Ma Ying-jeou of the KMT regarding Taiwan’s national defense. According to Ma, in the event of a Chinese invasion, Taiwan’s military would not last for more than several days, as a result of which the “first battle would be the last battle.” Consequently, Ma referred to current president Tsai Ing-wen’s cross-strait policy as overly provocative of China, as having brought Taiwan to “the brink of war”...
The specter of “rising tensions” or in Taiwan or ever-worsening relations with China as a product of ramped up cross-strait anxiety is a trope of reporting about Taiwan which urgently needs to go away...
With recent reports that China is preparing to vet Taiwanese businesses that conduct trade with China in order to filter out “pro-independence” businesses, we might step back to evaluate China’s claims...