Daijiworld Media Network - Taipei

Taipei, Mar 13: Taiwan’s military has been left surprised after a near two-week lull in Chinese military flights near the island, breaking the routine of near-constant incursions by Beijing’s warplanes. Officials recorded 13 consecutive days of peace since February 27, with only a brief exception on March 6, before activity resumed on Thursday with at least five People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft spotted near the median line of the Taiwan Strait.

Experts say the sudden pause is the longest since Taiwan began publicly releasing daily data on PLA movements in 2020. “Since Taiwan’s defense ministry started releasing this data, the trend has been up, up, up...and now this lull represents a very significant change,” said Ben Lewis, founder of PLATracker, a site tracking PLA activity.

China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has frequently used military pressure, deploying fighter jets and warships in near-daily operations around the island. While lulls in activity are not uncommon, they usually coincide with events such as China’s annual legislative session, but even then, some flights are typically recorded.

Analysts speculate several reasons for the drop in Chinese sorties, including the conclusion of China’s “two sessions” annual political meeting, recent military purges, and global factors like the Middle East conflict affecting fuel supplies. US President Donald Trump’s upcoming Beijing visit may also have influenced Beijing’s decision to scale back operations temporarily.

Taiwanese officials remain cautious. Some warn that Beijing may be using the lull to mislead international observers or weaken public support for Taiwan’s proposed $40 billion defence spending plan. Others suggest it could be a prelude to future military action, attempting to reduce US attention on Taiwan.

However, some experts view the pause as part of a recurring pattern. “PLA air incursions drop to near zero around the ‘two sessions’ every year. If this pattern persists beyond that, it would be unusual, but there’s no evidence yet of anything extraordinary,” said Brian Hart, deputy director of the China Power Project at the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

For now, Taiwan remains on high alert, monitoring Chinese movements closely while analysts continue to debate the reasons behind the unprecedented quiet in the skies.