Six Days of “Zero” PLA Aircraft Harassing Taiwan — Is Xi a Lover of Peace?

Taiwanese F-16V fighter jet monitors a Chinese CH-4 reconnaissance drone. (Photo provided by Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense / Dajiyuan)

[People News] An “extremely rare” phenomenon has appeared in the skies over the Taiwan Strait: Chinese Communist Party military aircraft have actually gone to “zero” for six consecutive days! They usually show up every day to harass and check in, so why have they suddenly disappeared from the sky at this moment during the Two Sessions?

According to a Reuters report, since February 27, Chinese Communist Party military aircraft have not approached Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone. In recent years, this is almost “unprecedented.” Some Taiwanese officials have analyzed that Xi Jinping is playing a “delaying tactic.” Because he is going to meet U.S. President Trump at the end of this month, he is now acting like a “lover of peace” in order to create the false impression for Trump that “I really love peace,” so that the United States will stop arms sales to Taiwan.

At the same time, however, Taiwanese officials also reminded people: “Just because they are not coming now does not mean they will not come back later.”

At this year’s Two Sessions, the Chinese Communist Party announced a defense budget increase of about 7%, which looks about the same as last year, at roughly $245 billion. But if you really believe that number, then you are being far too naive. A Bloomberg article directly exposed the point: the Chinese Communist Party’s military budget is far higher than you imagine!

According to a Radio France Internationale report, the U.S. Department of Defense estimates that Beijing’s actual military spending may be 40% to 90% higher than the published figure. Why? Because they have hidden the budgets for the coast guard, paramilitary forces, and those involved in “gray-zone” provocations. From 2012 until now, the Chinese Communist Party’s military spending has surged from one-sixth of that of the United States to one-third.

Xi Jinping’s hard order is this: by 2027, the People’s Liberation Army must have the capability to attack Taiwan. For this goal, he is pouring in money regardless of the cost.

Just during the Two Sessions, news of the U.S. military’s heavy strike on Iran reached Beijing, and it surely made Xi Jinping very afraid. Iran was beaten in actual combat without any ability to fight back, and for Xi Jinping, who is intent on taking action in the Taiwan Strait, this was undoubtedly a basin of icy, piercing cold water.
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