Latest Articles about Cross-Strait Relations

The PLA Navy’s Evolving Posture Beyond the First Island Chain

Executive Summary: The concurrent deployment of the Liaoning and Shandong aircraft carriers beyond the First Island Chain represents a significant strategic milestone, highlighting the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) improved capability to coordinate complex naval operations and signaling a shift towards more sophisticated Anti-Access/Area-Denial (A2/AD) operations... MORE

PLA Military Aerospace Force: On the Frontier of Innovation and Competition

Executive Summary: The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Aerospace Force (ASF) is structured to rapidly integrate space-based surveillance, targeting, and offensive capabilities into any conflict involving the PLA, signaling Beijing’s strategic anticipation of conflicts over Taiwan or the South China Sea. By consolidating the People’s Republic... MORE

Inside Taiwan’s Opposition: How the KMT’s Future Could Shape Cross-Strait Stability

Executive Summary: The Kuomintang (KMT) is undergoing a complex transformation, seeking to redefine itself by moving away from its perception as a “pro-China” party to one grounded in support for the Republic of China’s (ROC) democratic institutions. Internal factions—ranging from pro-unification traditionalists to sovereignty-leaning localists—reflect... MORE

Drills and Experts Suggest Beijing Favors Blockade on Longer Timeline

Executive Summary: The People’s Liberation Army increasingly emphasizes blockade scenarios in its exercises and drills, signaling a strategic shift in Beijing’s approach to a military contingency in the Taiwan Strait. Policy elites and current and former military officials corroborate this shift but largely project any... MORE

Taiwan Exposes More PRC Military Infiltration Cases

Executive Summary: Recent infiltration cases indicate that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has significantly intensified non-military espionage operations targeting Taiwan’s military, demonstrating strategic diversification beyond traditional military threats. Data reveals a sharp rise in prosecuted espionage cases over 2021–2024, with military personnel (active and retired)... MORE

Taiwan Focuses on Societal Resilience and U.S. Cooperation in New Defense Review

Executive Summary: Taiwan's 2025 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) prioritizes enhancing all-of-society resilience and emphasizes U.S.-Taiwan military cooperation. The document represents a significant improvement over its predecessor in content and clarity but suffers from being a document without consensus: Published by the Ministry of National Defense,... MORE