joining us, take us through the intent behind the show of force. >> reporter: well, beijing never announces its reasons, ken. if you put the pieces together here, the timing, the number of aircraft, it paints a pretty clear picture in the eyes of the leadership here, this is bullying, military intimidation. this is propaganda and as one analyst put it to cnn political warfare. now if you look at what the air defense evacuation zone is. it's crucial we make the distinction between taiwanese airspace and their self declared air defense zone, which goes much further. it's a buffer zone, if you will. when they play, they're not violating international law. they are entering where taiwan control will ask them to say letter the military in taiwan of a potential incoming threat. that's why it's called the air