Following her landslide re-election in January, Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen could be forgiven for dropping her trademark conciliatory tone towards China. After all, Beijing had just spent the past four years poaching her country’s few remaining formal diplomatic allies and pushing it out of international organisations including as, we all too sadly know, the World Health Organisation.
Still Tsai continues to handle cross-strait relations with the utmost caution. In October, to mark Taiwan’s national day, Tsai delivered another conciliatory speech calling for “meaningful dialogue”. Beijing, however, were in no mood for talking. That weekend, China’s air, navy and ground forces simulated an attack on the island and plastered the fiery footage all over state broadcasters.
Aggression of this kind is nothing new and it should be stressed an invasion is not imminent. Military drills, incursions into Taiwan’s air and sea space, as well as the firing of rockets across the strait have frequently been used by Beijing to discourage Taiwan from steps towards formal independence. Yet, as a recent Reuter’s investigation highlights, the frequency of China’s military manoeuvres against the island has become alarming.
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