Analysis: China Scrambles Jets as U.S. Navy Plane Transits
Beijing described the a U.S. Navy plane transit of the Taiwan Strait as “public hype.” Washington said it was upholding freedom of navigation. It comes just after a rare meet between U.S. and China’s defense chiefs. Political scientist Chong Ja Ian explains more.
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00:00So we saw a swift reaction and some strong words from China after the transit of that US Navy plane.
00:06Is this a typical response? It's pretty much a typical response. The PRC would like to create
00:13an impression that the Taiwan Strait is not international waters but part of China's
00:20waters somehow defined. And in that respect, any sort of transit that they do not like,
00:27especially by militaries of other countries, they like to make a lot of noise about it to show that
00:36they have some degree of administrative control. Whether they actually do or not,
00:40of course, is a different matter, but they like to create that impression.
00:44And what do you think about the timing of this? This comes after the US and China defense chiefs
00:48met, an apparent thawing of ties, close ties between China and the US. Why might this have
00:54happened straight after the meeting? So I think both Washington and Beijing are keen to show that
01:00despite an effort to talk, despite an effort to stabilize relations, they are maintaining their
01:07position. Sometimes there's a little bit of conflation between stabilizing relations and
01:12actually trying to improve and they're trying to stick to their position, stick to their points,
01:17but in a way such that there is no unintended and uncontrolled escalation.
01:22And how significant was that meeting between the defense chiefs and what might it mean for Taiwan?
01:29So it means that there is contact at a very high level, that there is some willingness on both
01:36sides, this is Washington and Beijing, to keep talking to avoid accidents from occurring,
01:42which I suppose is good for stability more generally. For Taiwan, what it means is that the
01:50US is trying to create a calmer environment and perhaps that would be good. This is why there are
01:55talks at senior levels, including by uniformed officers, precisely because each side knows that
02:02they're going to keep to their position and they're going to show that they can maintain
02:06and sustain their presence, but they want to do so in a way that avoids accidents from happening.