Ep 127 | Eric Chang on China's Breach of Taiwan's Air Defense Identification Zone: Threat or Bluff?

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

My guest on this episode of Talking Taiwan is Eric Chang, a writer for Taiwan News. On April 18th we spoke about China's April 12th incursion into Taiwan's air defense identification zone, the largest one to date at the time. We also spoke about the longstanding military threat that China poses for Taiwan and the Asia Pacific region, what this means for Taiwan, how Taiwan has responded, the U.S.'s response and why it matters, and how the support and cooperation from neighboring countries is essential to keeping peace in the region.

Here's a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

• The difference between a country's airspace and ADIZ (air defense identification zone)
• When Taiwan's ADIZ was set up
• When China's ADIZ was set up
• How China's air intrusions increased during the last year of Trump's presidency
• What prompted China's April 12th incursion into Taiwan's ADIZ
• U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's recent comments about Taiwan
• The Taiwan Relations Act
• What the median line is
• When Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense started to publicly report China's incursions into Taiwan's ADIZ
• How many incursions there have been this year by China to Taiwan's ADIZ
• The significance of Alex Azar (24th U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary) and Keith Krach's (Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment) visits to Taiwan
• Taiwan's response to China's incursions
• What damage China can do to Taiwan with their fighter planes
• The strategy/motivation behind China's incursions
• The war of attrition
• Gray zone tactics
• China's history of military aggression aimed at Taiwan
• China's reaction to Taiwan's first direct presidential election in 1996
• How willing China is to attack Taiwan
• How concerned people in Taiwan are about the China's military threat
• China's increasing military aggression in the Asia region
• Taiwan's defense abilities
• The new multimission amphibious ships that Taiwan recently launched
• Asymmetric warfare capabilities and how Taiwan can defend itself
• U.S. arms sales to Taiwan
• How the Biden administration has reacted to China's April 12th incursion
• How Taiwan can benefit from cooperation and intelligence sharing with neighboring countries in the Asia Pacific region
• Good sources to learn about Taiwan's military situation

Related Links:

Eric Chang on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ahbying

Taiwan reports largest incursion yet by Chinese air force:

https://www.reuters.com/world/china/taiwan-reports-largest-incursion-yet-by-chinese-air-force-2021-04-12/

25 Chinese military aircraft intrude into Taiwan's ADIZ:

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4175573?fbclid=IwAR3m993hnw9io6q-IOayFBd2ljslUV4HgENika9nj2hshgFrPlAerfXlw_w

The Taiwan Relations Act: https://www.ait.org.tw/our-relationship/policy-history/key-u-s-foreign-policy-documents-region/taiwan-relations-act/

Biden sends unofficial delegation to Taiwan in 'personal signal': https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-taiwan-delegation-idUSKBN2C02MS

U.S. President Biden and Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's April 16th meeting in Washington D.C.: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/17/biden-and-japans-suga-project-unity-against-chinas-assertiveness.html

Taiwan's first direct presidential election in 1996 and China's missile tests aimed at Taiwan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_Taiwanese_presidential_election

Ian Easton – Project 2049 Institute: https://project2049.net/author/ianeaston/

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken calls Taiwan 'country': https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4148761

Taiwan launches new amphibious vessel with anti-ship missiles: https://bit.ly/3no5Xa9

Taiwan's National Ministry of Defense on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mondefense

Taiwan's National Ministry of Defense's real-time updates of military activity around its borders:

https://bit.ly/3nnkK4U

Focus Taiwan: https://focustaiwan.tw/