International | From grey zone to red zone

Taiwan’s new president faces an upsurge in Chinese coercion

But China’s bullying of Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines risks an explosion

Crew aboard a Philippines Coast Guard vessel watch a Chinese Coast Guard ship in waters off the Philippines
Photograph: Jes Aznar/The New York Times/Redux/Eyevine
|MANILA, TAIPEI AND WASHINGTON, DC

SAILING AROUND the northern point of Dadan island, the extent of the geopolitical challenge facing Taiwan becomes glaringly clear: to starboard a small military outpost guards Taiwan’s Kinmen islands and their 140,000-odd residents; to port a pair of curved skyscrapers tower over the Chinese city of Xiamen, whose 5m people stretch all round the bay.

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This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “From grey zone to red zone”

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