Trump’s Test on Free China

An ‘astonishing’ show of force by Beijing suggests that a Pacific showdown could be close at hand.

Annabelle Chih/Getty Images
Taiwan's national flag is hosted outside of Taipei Hero House on December 10, 2024 at Taipei. Annabelle Chih/Getty Images

President-elect Trump could soon enter office with a crisis afoot in Asia on account of an extraordinary show of force from the People’s Republic of China against the free Republic of China. Taipei’s Defense Ministry on Tuesday disclosed that it had detected around 90 Communist Chinese vessels and 53 military planes, the largest such armada in decades. This surge of Beijing’s forces in the Taiwan Strait and Western Pacific amounts to a test for Trump.

A top military intelligence official, Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng, said at a press conference that an “astonishing” number of Chinese vessels have been deployed at a scale that “could block external forces.” He added that “The message they are sending is very simple: The Taiwan Strait is ours.” The latest belligerence comes after the Republic’s president, Lai Ching-te, undertook an overseas trip to Guam and Hawaii. That appears to have infuriated Beijing.

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