Taiwan will forcefully expel PLA warplanes next time: Tsai Ing-wen

[soryang]

Taiwanese president takes hardline response to Chinese fighter jets crossing of ‘median line’
Cross-strait tensions threaten to draw in Washington, analysts say
SCMP
Lawrence Chung

Liu Zhen

Published: 3:12pm, 1 Apr, 2019

Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen has ordered a “forceful expulsion” of PLA warplanes next time they cross the “median line” separating the self-ruled island from the Chinese mainland.

Tsai’s response to China’s decision on Sunday, to send two fighter jets across the tacitly understood line dividing the Taiwan Strait, confirmed concerns that the action had opened a new flashpoint in the increasingly complex relations between the US, Taiwan and China...

Taiwan scrambled interceptors on Sunday morning and broadcast warnings after two PLA J-11 fighter jets crossed the median line and entered the island’s southwestern airspace...

Analysts in Taiwan said, while it remained to be seen how Beijing would react to the order to forcefully disperse any future incursion by PLA jets, Tsai could risk setting off a cross-strait conflict which might drag Washington into the situation...

Analysts in Taiwan said the incursion was intentional and a response to US naval “freedom of navigation” exercises in the strait.

more: https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3004119/chinese-jets-incursion-across-taiwan-strait-beijings-way?utm_source=googlenewsstand_web&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=20190401&utm_campaign=off_platform

[soryang]

1. The "middle line is fictitious"

Taiwan can’t gamble on cross-Straits crisis
Source:Global Times Published: 2019/4/1 22:33:40

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1144298.shtml

Taiwan authorities claimed that People's Liberation Army (PLA) fighter jets crossed the so-called "middle line" of the Taiwan Straits at Sunday noon. Will the Straits situation reach a new stage? Possibly, but not necessarily.

First, the "middle line" is fictitious and psychological comfort to the Taiwan authorities. The Chinese mainland has never recognized it. Moreover, the two sides across the Straits probably have different definitions of the "middle line." Hence, even if PLA fighter jets did cross it, how the situation develops depends on Taiwan and US reactions.

Washington has gone too far by sending warships to sail through the Straits thrice this year. Many people tended to think the PLA's move was a response to recent provocations by Taiwan and the US. If they restrain themselves, the crossing of PLA fighter jets over the "middle line" will be nothing serious. However, if the two continue to make provocative moves, the cross-Straits situation is bound to become more uncertain.

[soryang]

2. China's state-run media blames US for tensions in Taiwan Strait

China’s state-run media blames US for tensions in Taiwan Strait

https://www.stripes.com/news/china-s-state-run-media-blames-us-for-tensions-in-taiwan-strait-1.575289

Strong signals

The crossover came a week after the U.S. on March 24-25 sailed the USS Curtis Wilbur and Coast Guard cutter Bertholf through the Taiwan Strait, the third such voyage by U.S. warships this year. The incident Sunday also happened within days of Tsai’s visit to Hawaii, where she made new requests for F-16 fighter jets, according to the Japan Times.

The U.S. has sent vessels through the Taiwan Strait almost once a month since October. The USS Stethem and cargo ship USNS Cesar Chavez passed through in February. The USS McCampbell and fleet replenishment oiler USNS Walter S. Diehl sailed there in January. The USS Stockdale and replenishment oiler USNS Pecos sailed the strait in November, preceded by the USS Curtis Wilbur and USS Antietam in October.

Prior to October, there had been only one Taiwan Strait transit by U.S. naval vessels — the USS Mustin and USS Benfold in July — reported in more than a year.