Alexander C- Huang analyzes that Chinese leader Xi Jinping has twice told former U.S. President Biden about hopes for American support for 'peaceful unification.' Now with Trump in office, how will he respond to this issue? (Associated Press)
Taiwan's military has reported a rare and "unusual" lull in Chinese aerial activity, with Beijing's warplanes largely absent from the skies around the island for nine of the past 10 days. The sudden de-escalation has sparked intense analysis among regional security experts, with some suggesting China is signaling a "peaceful" posture ahead of a high-stakes meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.
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A Stark Departure from Routine
The shift in the Taiwan Strait is statistically significant. Since February 28, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) has detected a maximum of only two Chinese military aircraft on any given day. In contrast, during the same period last year, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) conducted 86 sorties. As of 6:00 AM on March 10, the MND reported six naval vessels in the area but zero aircraft incursions.Alexander Chieh-cheng Huang (黃介正), an Associate Professor at Tamkang University's Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies, told Storm Media that this quiet period likely serves a calculated political purpose.
Huang posits that Beijing may be adopting a deliberate posture of seeking to resolve the Taiwan issue without immediate force, essentially "holding its fire" while waiting to see how the second Trump administration responds to long-standing calls for "peaceful unification".
PLA conducted 'long-range navigation and sea-air joint training' and 'joint combat readiness patrols' before the Lunar New Year. The image shows Chinese military aircraft in formation flight. (Xinhua)
Analyzing the Strategic Lull
Huang identifies several overlapping factors that may explain the current vacuum in military pressure. On a domestic level, China is currently preoccupied with its "Two Sessions" parliamentary meetings in Beijing, a period during which the leadership often prioritizes internal stability. Diplomatically, however, the silence may be aimed at creating favorable conditions for the anticipated summit between President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, expected to take place around April.
This "peaceful" overture carries deep historical subtext. Huang notes that Xi Jinping previously urged former President Biden on two occasions to support China's peaceful unification efforts, requests that went largely unanswered. By grounding its jets now, Beijing may be testing whether the return of Donald Trump to the White House will yield a different diplomatic response.
Alexander C. Huang analyzes that Beijing may be adopting a peaceful posture toward Taiwan resolution while awaiting President Trump's response. (Photo by Ko Cheng-hui)
The "Rashomon" of PLA Operations
Despite the current calm, Huang warns against assuming that the "normalization" of Chinese combat readiness patrols has fundamentally ended. He points out that while recent high-level purges within the PLA have led some to speculate about internal instability, the military's performance remains robust; the "Righteous Mission" exercises late last year were executed with near-flawless precision despite leadership gaps.
Ultimately, the true cause of the silent skies remains what Huang describes as a "Rashomon situation"—a mystery where the truth is obscured by conflicting interpretations. While the lull could be a profound strategic signal, it remains equally possible that the PLA simply has no major drills scheduled for this specific window. Since Beijing's military training schedules remain a state secret, the world may have to wait until after the April summit to determine if this silence was a prelude to peace or merely a tactical pause.
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