With US military stuck in Middle East amid war with Iran, is China preparing to attack Taiwan?

Taipei: Israel and the United States have jointly launched largescale airstrikes against Iran. Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was reported to be killed in airstrikes by the US and Israel. Khamenei's death has escalated tensions in the Middle East. Iran has intensified retaliatory attacks, and large-scale conflict is escalating in the region. Meanwhile, China has also become active, seemingly planning something regarding Taiwan.

What are China's plans against Taiwan?

Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense detected seven Chinese naval vessels and one balloon around its territorial waters as of 6 a.m. (local time) on Sunday. In a post on the social media platform X, the Ministry of Defense stated that seven PLAN (Chinese Navy) vessels were detected around Taiwan as of 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. One PRC (Chinese) balloon was also spotted during this time. The ROC (Taiwan) Armed Forces monitored the situation and took appropriate retaliatory action.

Earlier on February 28, the Ministry of Defense detected seven Chinese naval vessels and a Chinese balloon around its territorial waters. The ministry reported in a post on X that seven PLAN vessels and a PRC balloon were spotted around Taiwan. Taiwanese forces monitored the situation and responded.

What stance has Taiwan taken?

Meanwhile, the Taiwanese government's stance on the ban on entry of senior officials from China's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) into the country remains unchanged. This is due to the continued lack of goodwill from Beijing. According to the Taipei Times, Liang Wen-chieh, Vice Chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), defended the government's stance while responding to media questions about the Shanghai delegation attending the Taipei Lantern Festival. The delegation was led by a lower-level TAO official, rather than the director of the Shanghai office.

Liang said this arrangement was clearly specified in the TAO's entry application. The Council had not received any application from the Director or Deputy Director of the Shanghai office. According to reports, China's decision to send a junior official may be linked to its major military exercises around Taiwan last year. These exercises took place shortly after Taipei Mayor Chiang Wen-an returned from the Shanghai-Taipei Twin Cities Summit held in Shanghai. At that summit, Chiang called for peace and shared prosperity across the Taiwan Strait.

The Council had previously banned the entry of senior Taiwanese officials in 2024 in response to 22-point "guidelines" issued by the Chinese Communist Party targeting "hardline" Taiwanese independence separatists. These measures included provisions such as the death penalty. Liang said that reconsidering the policy would depend on Beijing's goodwill.