Taiwan Strait

Lore & Background

The Taiwan Strait has separated Han culture from Taiwan's aborigines for millennia, though Hakka and Hoklo peoples traded and migrated across it. European explorers—Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch—used the strait for trade and raiding during the Ming dynasty. Widespread Chinese migration began in the late Ming, and in 1661 Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga) expelled the Dutch and established the Kingdom of Tungning, planning a reconquest of the mainland. His grandson surrendered to the Qing after losing the 1683 Battle of the Penghu Islands in the strait.

Japan seized the Penghu Islands during the First Sino-Japanese War and gained control of Taiwan in 1895. During World War II, the strait protected Japanese bases in Taiwan from Chinese attack, but aerial warfare reached the island by 1943. The 1944 Formosa Air Battle gave the United States Pacific Fleet air supremacy, and bombing continued until Japan's surrender in 1945. After the Chinese Civil War, the People's Republic of China and Republic of China engaged in multiple brief armed conflicts in the strait: the First, Second, and Third Taiwan Strait Crises.

In the 21st century, cross-strait relations stabilized, leading to the Three Links on 15 December 2008, with direct commercial flights, shipping, and post. Since 2018, China has denied that the concept of international waters applies to the Taiwan Strait, though it does not claim sovereignty over the entire strait. The median line, defined by General Benjamin O. Davis Jr. in 1955, has never gained official or legal status, and the PRC has explicitly denied its existence since 2020.

Reader's Guide

The Taiwan Strait is a critical geopolitical and economic waterway. It separates Taiwan from mainland China and connects the South China Sea and East China Sea, serving as a gateway for ships traveling to and from major ports in Northeast Asia. The strait's strategic depth has historically provided Taiwan with a degree of protection from mainland China. The median line, a tacit understanding established in 1955, was used to prevent military crossings but has been increasingly disregarded by China since 2019, with Chinese military exercises since 2022 erasing the concept entirely. The strait is also economically significant: fishermen have used it since time immemorial, and Taiwan is building major wind farms there. Sediment from Taiwan's rivers deposits up to 370 million tons annually into the sea, with 60 to 150 million tons deposited into the strait. The strait's legal status remains disputed, with China regulating what it views as support for Taiwanese authorities, while the US and other nations continue to assert freedom of navigation.

Did You Know?

• The Taiwan Strait is also known historically as the Formosa Strait, Strait of Fuchien, and Black Ditch.
• The median line in the strait was defined by US Air Force General Benjamin O. Davis Jr. in 1955.
• In 2002, China Airlines Flight 611 broke up in mid-air and crashed into the Taiwan Strait, killing all 225 people on board.
• Each year, Taiwan's rivers carry up to 370 million tons of sediments into the sea, with 60 to 150 million tons deposited into the Taiwan Strait.