Taiwan Strait crossings have ‘destroyed’ tacit agreement on median line

Name: Why mainland China is holding military drills in Taiwan Strait following US Speaker Pelosi’s trip
Uploaded: 2022-10-05T05:53:00.000Z
Duration: 7 min 7 s
Description: Why mainland China is holding military drills in Taiwan Strait following US Speaker Pelosi’s trip

Taiwanese defence minister says Taipei would react if Beijing crossed its ‘red line’ but does not specify unofficial air and sea barrier

PLA forces have since August been routinely crossing the line through the strait, which has never been officially recognised by Beijing

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Chinese fighter jets are routinely crossing the Taiwan Strait’s median line, devised by a US general in 1954 at the height of Cold War hostilities. Photo: Handout

Reuters

Published: 1:53pm, 5 Oct 2022Updated: 1:55pm, 5 Oct 2022

Taiwanese Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said Beijing has destroyed a tacit agreement on military movements in the Taiwan Strait by crossing an unofficial “median line” running down the waterway.

Chiu told a Taiwanese parliamentary committee on Wednesday that Taipei would react if China crossed its “red line”, but did not say what it was. He suggested it included Chinese aircraft, including drones, flying near the island but did not identify the median line as a “red line”.

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Why mainland China is holding military drills in Taiwan Strait following US Speaker Pelosi’s trip

Mainland forces mounted large-scale drills – including firing missiles over Taipei – in August to show Beijing’s anger over US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island.

PLA military activities near Taiwan have continued since then, though at a much reduced level, and its aircraft are routinely crossing the median line, which for years acted as an unofficial barrier between the mainland and the self-ruled island.

The Taiwan Strait is some 180km (110 miles) wide and at its narrowest, the median line – devised by a US general in 1954 at the height of Cold War hostilities – is about 40km (25 miles) from the island’s coast.

Beijing has never officially recognised the line, although the PLA largely respected it. In 2020, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said the median line “did not exist” as mainland forces have a right to operate around the island, which Beijing regards as part of its territory.