U.S.-China Tensions and Beijing’s Show of Strength in the Taiwan Strait
U.S.-China Tensions and Beijing’s Show of Strength in the Taiwan Strait
Podcast / Asia 1 minutes

U.S.-China Tensions and Beijing’s Show of Strength in the Taiwan Strait

In this episode of Hold Your Fire!, Richard Atwood is joined by Crisis Group’s China expert, Amanda Hsiao, to discuss China’s recent show of strength in the Taiwan Strait and increasingly fraught U.S.-China relations.

In recent weeks, record numbers of Chinese fighter jets have entered Taiwan’s Air Defence Identification Zone in what appears to be a deliberate show of strength by Beijing. This comes at a time when tensions between Beijing and the U.S. are particularly fraught. A core part of Washington’s China policy seeks to deter China’s assertiveness in its neighbourhood, as Beijing expands its military presence within the first island chain, which stretches from Japan past Taiwan to the Philippines and Borneo in the South China Sea. 

In this episode of Hold Your Fire! Richard Atwood is joined by Amanda Hsiao, Crisis Group’s Senior China Analyst. They talk about what Beijing hopes to achieve with the flights and how they’re perceived in Taiwan. They also discuss the military build-up in the region and how U.S. and Chinese militaries are more frequently coming into contact with one another. Amanda also talks through how Beijing views its relations with Washington and, with a virtual summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping scheduled for some time this year, prospects for dialling back tensions.  

Click here to listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

For more information, explore Crisis Group’s analysis on our China page. Make sure to check out Amanda’s recent Q&A

Contributors

Executive Vice President
atwoodr
Senior Analyst, China
amanda_hsiao

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