China "likely sent higher numbers of military aircraft and ships to ensure that Lai gets the message that Beijing strongly opposes what they view as his provocative pro-independence rhetoric." said analyst Bonnie Glaser.
"The United States has not lost focus on the Indo-Pacific region, and [...] Xi should not get any ideas from Putin's aggression,” says Jacob Stokes at CNAS.
Government can’t stop to update systems, so modernization has to happen without interruptions.
The reliably bellicose Global Times' editor, Hu Xijin, slammed Dutton's remarks in a Tweet, promising a “heavy attack” on Australia if it should get involved in any Taiwan conflict.
Opportunities for the US and Chinese air forces to interface have "dried up" in recent years. That "should cause us a little bit of concern," the Air Force's director of staff said Friday.
The Chinese flights are not likely to abate any time soon, Dean Cheng, a top Chinese military expert at the Heritage Foundation, says.