Taiwan Strait

TheTaiwan Straitis a 180-kilometer (110 mi; 97 nmi)-widestraitseparating theisland of Taiwanand theAsian continent. The strait is part of theSouth China Seaand connects to theEast China Seato the north. The narrowest part is 130 km (81 mi; 70 nmi) wide.
Former names of the Taiwan Strait include theFormosa StraitorStrait of Formosa,from a dated name forTaiwan; theStrait of FokienorFujian, fromthe Chinese provinceforming the strait's western shore;and theBlack Ditch, acalqueof the strait's name inHokkienandHakka.
The Taiwan Strait is the body of water separatingFujian ProvincefromTaiwan Island. The international agreement does not define the Taiwan Strait but places its waters within theSouth China Sea, whose northern limit runs fromCape Fugui(the northernmost point onTaiwan Island; Fukikaku) toNiushan Islandto the southernmost point ofPingtan Islandand thence westward along the parallel25° 24′N. to the coast ofFujian Province.The draft for a new edition of theIHO'sLimits of Oceans and Seasdoes precisely define the Taiwan Strait, classifying it as part of theNorth Pacific Ocean.It makes the Taiwan Strait a body of waterbetweentheEastandSouth China Seasand delimits it:
The entire strait is on Asia'scontinental shelf. It is almost entirely less than 150 m (490 ft; 82 fathoms) deep, with a shortravineof that depth off the southwest coast of Taiwan. As such, there are many islands in the strait. The largest and most important islands off the coast of Fujian areXiamen,Gulangyu,Pingtan(the "Haitan" of the IHO delineation),Kinmen, andMatsu. The first three are controlled by the  People's Republic of China (PRC); the last two by the Republic Of China (ROC). Within the strait lie thePenghuor the Pescadores, also controlled by the ROC. There is a majorunderwater bank40–60 km (25–37 mi) north of the Penghu Islands.
All of Fujian Province's rivers except theTingrun into the Taiwan Strait. The largest two are theMinand theJiulong.
A theoretical "median line", also known as the Davis line, was defined down the middle of the strait by US Air Force GeneralBenjamin O. Davis Jr.in 1955, after which the US pressured both sides not to cross it.As a tacit understanding, it never gained official or legal status.The PRC has never recognized the median line.Aircraft from Taiwan crossed it frequently until theSecond Taiwan Strait Crisisin 1958.Between 1954 and 2019, generally did not crossthe area, with military craft crossing three times in that period.
In 2019, Taiwan's defense ministry provided coordinates for the median line. The ministry recognizes the line as running from 27°N, 122°E in the north to 23°N, 118°E on the southern end.
In 2019, PLA warplanes crossed the median line for the first time since 1999.In 2020, thePRC Foreign Ministryexplicitly denied the existence of a median line and no longer act as if such a line exists.
Each year, Taiwan's rivers carry up to 370 million tons of sediments into the sea, including 60 to 150 million tons deposited into the Taiwan Strait.During the past ten thousand years, 600 billion tons of riverine sediments have been deposited in the Taiwan Strait, locally forming a lobe up to 40 m thick in the southern part of the Taiwan Strait.
The Strait mostly separated theHancultureof the Chinese mainland fromTaiwan Island'saboriginesfor millennia, although theHakkaandHoklotraded and migrated across it.European explorers, principally thePortuguese,SpanishandDutch, also took advantage of the strait to establish forward bases for trade with the mainland during theMing; the bases were also used forraidingboth the Chinese coast and the trading ships of rival countries.
Widespread Chinese migration across the strait began in the lateMing. During theQingconquest, Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga) expelled the Dutch and established theKingdom of Tungningin 1661, planning to launch a reconquest of the mainland in the name of theSouthern Mingbranches of the old imperial dynasty.Dorgonand theKangxi Emperorwere able to consolidate their control over southern mainland China; Koxinga found himself limited to raiding across the strait. His grandsonZheng Keshuangsurrendered to the Qing after his admiral lost the 1683Battle of the Penghu Islandsin the middle of the strait.
Japanseized thePenghu Islandsduring theFirst Sino-Japanese Warand gained control of Taiwan at its conclusion in 1895. Control of the eastern half of the strait was used to establish control of the southern Chinese coast during theSecond World War. The strait protected Japanese bases and industry in Taiwan from Chinese attack and sabotage, butaerial warfarereached the island by 1943. The 1944Formosa Air Battlegave theUnited States Pacific Fleetair supremacyfrom itscarrier groupsandPhilippinebases; subsequently, the bombing was continuous untilJapan's surrenderin 1945.Therapid advanceof theCommunistPLAin 1949 provoked the government'sretreatacross the Taiwan Strait.
In the aftermath of theChinese Civil War,People's Republic of ChinaandRepublic of Chinahad multiple brief armed conflicts on the Taiwan Strait, consequently named theFirst Taiwan Strait Crisis, theSecond Taiwan Strait Crisis, and theThird Taiwan Strait Crisis. These confrontations did not result in large-scale military conflicts between China and Taiwan. In the 21st century, theCross-Strait relationsstabilized, leading to the establishment ofThree Linkson 15 December 2008, with the commencement of direct commercial flights, shipping, and post across the Taiwan Strait.
On 25 May 2002,China Airlines Flight 611broke up in mid-air and crashed into the Taiwan Strait, killing all 225 people on board.On 26 February 2022, China denounced the sailing of the U.S. Navy's7th FleetArleigh Burke-classguided-missile destroyerUSSRalph Johnsonthrough the Taiwan Strait as a "provocative act".
Since 2018Chinahas denied that the concept ofinternational watersapplies to the Taiwan Strait.China does not claim sovereignty over the entire strait but seeks to regulate what it views as "support for the Taiwan authorities and muscle-flexing against the mainland".This position has led to concerns from American, Australian, and French officials and objection from Taiwan."International waters" is technically not defined by theUnited Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and there is no high seas corridor within the Taiwan Strait, but transit rights mimicking high seas such asinnocent passageandfreedom of navigationare generally allowed withinexclusive economic zones.
Fishermen have used the strait as a fishing resource since time immemorial. In the modern world, it is the gateway used by ships of almost every kind on passage to and from nearly all the important ports inNortheast Asia.Chinese vessels often trespass into Taiwanese territorial waters to fish or dredge sand, leading to interceptions by theCoast Guard Administrationas well as seizures, confiscations, and fines.
Taiwan is building majorwind farmsin the strait.