Here's a fact filled analysis. You can compare it to any media outlet you choose. The facts indicate that China is not being as aggressive as it would have seemed from the typical media report.
How Close Did Chinese Military Jets Really Get to Taiwan?
The flights were unprecedented—but not quite as brazen as they may have seemed.
What the Chinese planes crossed was Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, or ADIZ, and the distinction is not a mere technicality; it is enormous, and all the parties—U.S., Chinese, and Taiwanese military officials—know it, whatever scare tactics they might be tossing up to a frazzled public.
“Airspace” is a concept of international law, referring to a line 12 nautical miles (about 13.8 statutory miles) beyond a nation’s border. An ADIZ is an area—usually much farther out from the borders—within which a nation declares it has the authority to identify, track, and control foreign aircraft approaching its territory. Roughly 20 nations have established an ADIZ, and they define its scope differently. The U.S. zone extends 200 miles beyond its borders. Taiwan’s covers all of the Taiwan Strait, part of the East China Sea, and a section of mainland China’s Fujian and Zhejiang provinces. No one would claim that the sky above those provinces is “Taiwanese airspace.”
Whenever some of these planes include combat planes, the Taiwanese air force sends up its own jet fighters to warn them away. In most previous cases, the Chinese have sent mainly reconnaissance planes. This week, though, the vast majority of the planes were jet fighters, bombers, and anti-submarine aircrafts. In short, China’s behavior seems more strenuous and aggressive.
...
However, Fravel emphasizes, these planes have never flown over Taiwan’s actual airspace. Chinese President Xi Jinping and his generals may be haughty, but they don’t appear to be reckless.
...
The flights should also be viewed in the context of China’s broader military strategy, which most analysts see as a strategy of “area denial.” This means keeping adversaries—chiefly U.S. air and naval forces—as far away from China as possible. One way the Chinese military has done this is expanding the number and range of missiles and other devices (including cybertechnologies) that can attack U.S. warships and combat planes within firing range of its borders. Another way is building artificial islands out in the South China Sea, turning them into military bases, and claiming sovereign rights over the new lands so that they are no longer part of international waters. The United States has challenged this claim, sending warships on patrol nearby and insisting that these areas are open to international commerce and navigation. If war ever breaks out between the U.S. and China, it might begin with one of these challenges, or a Chinese counterchallenge.
...
A fitting P.S.: How many Chinese planes flew over Taiwan’s air defense identification zone on Tuesday, the day after the highest-ever 56 flights on Monday? According to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense, one flight—just one. (There probably won’t be many headlines about that.) Was the cause of all the fear and trembling merely a weekend air party? Is it all over now, or will there be another 50 flights tomorrow? The fact is, those 133 Chinese flights over the zone on Friday through Monday—and the single flight on Tuesday—comprise but a small piece of the grand competition, and not a very important one at that
How Close Did Chinese Military Jets Really Get to Taiwan?
The flights were unprecedented—but not quite as brazen as they may have seemed.
What the Chinese planes crossed was Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, or ADIZ, and the distinction is not a mere technicality; it is enormous, and all the parties—U.S., Chinese, and Taiwanese military officials—know it, whatever scare tactics they might be tossing up to a frazzled public.
“Airspace” is a concept of international law, referring to a line 12 nautical miles (about 13.8 statutory miles) beyond a nation’s border. An ADIZ is an area—usually much farther out from the borders—within which a nation declares it has the authority to identify, track, and control foreign aircraft approaching its territory. Roughly 20 nations have established an ADIZ, and they define its scope differently. The U.S. zone extends 200 miles beyond its borders. Taiwan’s covers all of the Taiwan Strait, part of the East China Sea, and a section of mainland China’s Fujian and Zhejiang provinces. No one would claim that the sky above those provinces is “Taiwanese airspace.”
Whenever some of these planes include combat planes, the Taiwanese air force sends up its own jet fighters to warn them away. In most previous cases, the Chinese have sent mainly reconnaissance planes. This week, though, the vast majority of the planes were jet fighters, bombers, and anti-submarine aircrafts. In short, China’s behavior seems more strenuous and aggressive.
...
However, Fravel emphasizes, these planes have never flown over Taiwan’s actual airspace. Chinese President Xi Jinping and his generals may be haughty, but they don’t appear to be reckless.
...
The flights should also be viewed in the context of China’s broader military strategy, which most analysts see as a strategy of “area denial.” This means keeping adversaries—chiefly U.S. air and naval forces—as far away from China as possible. One way the Chinese military has done this is expanding the number and range of missiles and other devices (including cybertechnologies) that can attack U.S. warships and combat planes within firing range of its borders. Another way is building artificial islands out in the South China Sea, turning them into military bases, and claiming sovereign rights over the new lands so that they are no longer part of international waters. The United States has challenged this claim, sending warships on patrol nearby and insisting that these areas are open to international commerce and navigation. If war ever breaks out between the U.S. and China, it might begin with one of these challenges, or a Chinese counterchallenge.
...
A fitting P.S.: How many Chinese planes flew over Taiwan’s air defense identification zone on Tuesday, the day after the highest-ever 56 flights on Monday? According to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense, one flight—just one. (There probably won’t be many headlines about that.) Was the cause of all the fear and trembling merely a weekend air party? Is it all over now, or will there be another 50 flights tomorrow? The fact is, those 133 Chinese flights over the zone on Friday through Monday—and the single flight on Tuesday—comprise but a small piece of the grand competition, and not a very important one at that
