Flashpoint Taiwan: The Blockade Rehearsal

Relevance: GS II (International Relations – Geopolitics) & GS I (Strategic Geography)

Source: The Hindu

1. The Context: A “New Normal”

The Taiwan Strait is witnessing a dangerous shift. China has launched a massive military exercise named “Justice Mission-2025.”

The Change: Unlike previous drills which were “shows of force,” this was a rehearsal for a full blockade.
The Escalation: For the first time, Chinese rockets landed in Taiwan’s Contiguous Zone (just 24 nautical miles from the coast), and 90 jets crossed the Median Line—an unofficial boundary that Beijing increasingly ignores to erode the status quo.

2. Why Now? (The Triggers)

The drills were a calculated response to two “Red Line” crossings:

The “Hard” Provocation: The US approved a massive $11 billion arms package for Taiwan, signaling that Washington will continue to arm the island despite Beijing’s warnings.
The “Soft” Provocation: It serves as a stern warning to Taiwan’s pro-independence leadership (DPP) following their recent electoral victory.

3. Strategic Geography: The “Unsinkable Carrier”

To understand the stakes, you must look at the map.

The Barrier: Taiwan sits in the center of the “First Island Chain” (running from Japan to the Philippines). For the US, this chain is a “wall” that traps the Chinese Navy near its coast.
The Breakout: If China captures Taiwan, it breaks this wall. It gains direct, deep-water access to the Pacific Ocean, allowing its submarines to threaten US bases in Guam and Hawaii. This is why China calls Taiwan a “renegade province” and the US calls it a critical strategic node.

4. Taiwan’s Response: The “Porcupine”

Taiwan knows it cannot defeat China in a head-on war (David vs. Goliath). Instead, it is adopting the Porcupine Strategy:

The Logic: Make yourself “too prickly to swallow.”
The Method: Instead of buying expensive tanks, Taiwan is stocking up on agile, cheaper weapons (sea mines, anti-ship missiles, and drones) and building a “T-Dome” (air defense) to make any invasion attempt incredibly costly and painful for Beijing.

UPSC Value Box

Concept / Term	Relevance for Prelims
First Island Chain	A strategic chain of major archipelagos (Japan to Taiwan to Philippines). It acts as the first line of defense for US influence in the Pacific.
Median Line	An unofficial buffer line running down the middle of the Taiwan Strait. Historically respected by both sides to prevent accidental conflict, but now frequently breached by the PLA.
Porcupine Strategy	A military doctrine of Asymmetric Warfare. It focuses on defense using mobile, concealable, and lethal weapons to bleed a larger invader rather than defeating them in open battle.

Q. With reference to the strategic geography of the Indo-Pacific, the “First Island Chain” refers to a series of archipelagos that includes:

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 1, 2 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

Correct Answer: (b)

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