China reacts to the outcome of the Taiwanese elections and, after several disruptive actions, adapts unilaterally 3 flight routes (cancellation of the deviation of the M503 route southbound and activation of the W122 and W123 eastbound routes towards the island).
The routes, which run parallel to the midline of the Strait of Formosa, constituted an unofficial border tacitly respected by both sides.
After the adjustment, aircraft flying along the M503 stay closer to the centerline of the Strait to a distance of less than 10 km at the closest points; similarly, routes W122 and W123 will depart from the cities of Fuzhou and Xiamen near the Kinmen and Matsu islands controlled by Taipei despite their position placing them a few kilometers from the south-east Chinese coast.
The median lines had been respected as a dividing line until the visit of Nancy Pelosi, then speaker of the House of Representatives.
Taipei's protests were useless and also appealed to the need to preserve aviation safety.
Politically, the Chinese act poses a problem tombstone on mutual trust, if there ever was, and calls into question the "status quo" in the Taiwan Strait. Talking about sovereignty now seems out of place, and effectively deprives Taiwan of any possibility of negotiation.
However, Beijing's modus operandi, used to obtaining what it intends in any way, is nothing new; in fact, the People's Republic of China has reaffirmed the island's belonging to its Han national fabric, not before launching spy balloons almost daily into the airspace (or presumed such) of Taiwan.
The victory of Lai Ching-te of the progressive democratic party in the presidential elections seems to have accelerated the political dynamics, also because the newly elected is the bearer of the lack of recognition of the 1992 consensus, i.e. of a more than discussed agreement for which there is aonly China.
The problem within Taiwan is that the President's party has lost its parliamentary majority, which makes events in the China Sea even more complex.
Although he does not intend to proclaim an independence which would prove to be extremely dangerous, Lai, nevertheless defending it status quo, has evidently triggered, in spite of itself, the launch of planned plans that were just waiting to be put into action.
It now remains to be seen what Chinese operational planning will provide for an island which, despite the positions of principle, still remains the only door still closed for free and undisputed Chinese access to the Pacific Ocean.
To note the deafening silence that followed these events, evidently not very engaging or perhaps, on the contrary, expected and, perhaps, in some places, whispered by subdued singers of Garcia Marquez and his chronicle of a now very soon announced death.
