In the wake of this month's Trump-Xi summit in Beijing, and as a 'paused' but still looming major US-approved weapons deal and transfer to Taipei is set to go forward, China is stepping up military patrols near and around the self-ruled island of Taiwan.
Taiwan's military is currently on high alert, having on Tuesday dispatched ships and fighter jets to monitor the second Chinese "joint combat readiness patrol" in a week near the island.
In a fresh post on X, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said its forces had responded to the situation after detecting 29 Chinese aircraft, including fighter jets, and seven warships operating around the island.
The ministry further alleged that two-dozen of the aerial sorties had crossed the median line, an unofficial maritime and aerial buffer zone dividing the Taiwan Strait, but which Beijing doesn't recognize as having any real legal bearing.
Joseph Wu, secretary-general of Taiwan’s National Security Council, issued some provocative remarks as the security situation unfolded, blasting China as being the sole source of instability in the Asia Pacific region.
"For the 2nd time in a week, shortly after the Beijing summit, the PLA conducted a 'joint combat readiness patrol' around Taiwan. We also spotted the Liaoning carrier group in the West Pacific. This is unprovoked. The PRC is the sole source of instability in the IndoPacific," he stated on X.
Ratcheting tensions stretched back through the weekend, with Reuters reporting that "On Saturday, Wu said China had deployed more than 100 ships up and down the first island chain, an area that stretches from Japan down to Taiwan and into the Philippines."
Last week we reported that China has been actively holding up a proposed visit by Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon's under-secretary of defense for policy. The move is a transparent effort to pressure President Trump over a looming $14 billion weapons package for Taiwan.
Sources familiar with the talks told the Financial Times that Beijing signaled it "cannot approve a visit until Trump decides how he will proceed with the arms package."
Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao has since revealed that the US is indeed pausing the $14BN arms sale in question, though he framed the move as due to the Trump administration's war with Iran.
He said this was to make sure there's plenty of missile supply and interceptors to execute the war, especially in the scenario that a full aerial bombing operation is renewed.
Given the ongoing Iran crisis and Hormuz Strait standoff, and with a US military build-up in the Middle East region, if China did want to move on Taiwan there's probably nothing that Washington could do about it. However, Beijing has long maintained its stance that it wants reunification through political means.