The new challenge posed by China’s aggressive behavior in the Taiwan Strait to the US

China is escalating its routine harassment in the Taiwan Strait and has taken aggressive new actions. This comes at a low point in diplomatic relations between Beijing and Washington and U.S. officials and experts say confrontations between Chinese and American military vehicles are unavoidable. A Chinese warship overtook a U.S. destroyer earlier this week in the Strait, an almost unprecedented instance, according to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. This dangerous maneuver is unclear, and some experts speculate China might have been reacting to U.S. support for Taiwan, attempting to distract from domestic troubles, or peacocking during a high-profile defense summit in the region. Tensions between the two countries continue to flare over recent months, and President Biden is pushing for Chinese President Xi Jinping to establish predictable channels of communication. China has responded to some efforts by the U.S. and stonewalled others.

The confrontation between the Chinese naval vessel and the U.S. warship occurred while Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu were delivering speeches at a conference. Austin reiterated calls for dialogue to keep confrontations from spiraling into conflict; Li told the audience to “mind your own business.” The Taiwan Strait is about 100 miles wide from China’s east coast and Taiwan’s west coast, with each country claiming control of the 12 nautical miles that extend out from their shores. China, as part of its claims of sovereignty over Taiwan, also claims control over the territorial waters extending from the island, but this has long been rhetorical, said a former senior intelligence official. The official said the Chinese started shifting their language over the past couple of years to more firmly assert sovereignty over both sides of the Taiwan Strait. In 2022, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said it is a “false claim” to call the strait “international waters.”