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Beijing’s attempts to test the United States’ relationship with Taiwan in the days after President Joe Biden’s inauguration appear only to have strengthened an unofficial alliance that has blossomed since Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen took office in 2016.
China sent dozens of warplanes into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on January 23 and 24. The incursions, which increased in frequency after two high-level U.S. official visits to Taiwan, continued through the end of the month.
The ADIZ incursions are not the same as flights into Taiwan’s airspace – a country’s ADIZ can encompass areas that are not part of its territory – but the flights are intentionally provocative maneuvers, which usually lead Taiwan to scramble fighter jets in response.