Beijing incursion into Taiwan Strait is a warning

China’s decision to fly more than a dozen military aircraft, including strategic bombers, into the Taiwan Strait this weekend sends an early warning to President Joe Biden on one of the most volatile issues between Beijing and Washington.

The sortie by eight Xian H-6K bombers and five other planes Saturday was the third-largest such incursion by People’s Liberation Army aircraft in the past year, according to Taiwanese Defense Ministry data. Moreover, H-6K bombers are believed to be capable of carrying landattack cruise missiles that give Chinese forces the ability to strike overseas bases from a safe distance.

The U.S. State Department responded with a statement affirming Washington’s “rock-solid” commitment to Taipei and urging Beijing “to cease its military, diplomatic and economic pressure.” China should “instead engage in meaningful dialogue with Taiwan’s democratically elected representatives,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said.

The incursion sent “a clear signal to the Biden administration that China stands ready to defend its sovereignty over Taiwan and that it is a red line that the U.S. should not dare to cross,” said Yongwook Ryu, assistant professor of East Asian international relations at the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. “We will see quite a bit of jostling between China and the U.S. over Taiwan in the early phase of the Biden administration, as the two giants seek to figure out where they can cooperate and test each other’s resolve.”

The 70-year-old dispute over Taiwan has re-emerged since the island elected Tsai Ing-wen, of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party president, as its president in 2016. China’s Xi Jinping, who has vowed to work toward unifying the two sides, has cut off communication with Taipei and launched a pressure campaign over Tsai’s refusal to accept that both sides belong to “One China.”