The world has long fretted about the outbreak of a catastrophic war on the Korean peninsula but the real danger may lie some 1,000 miles away in the Taiwan Strait — where the largest army on the planet is flexing its increasing might against a democratic island of 24 million people.
In recent days, jets of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have repeatedly crossed the midpoint of the strait that separates the mainland and Taiwan — their de facto border — triggering intercepts by the island’s frontline fighters.
A People’s Liberation Army bomber flies near Taiwanese airspace last week. Beijing has threatened retaliation if its aircraft are attacked
TAIWAN MINISTRY OF NATIONAL DEFENSE/AP
Chinese flotillas are practising mine clearing to open up sea lanes for warships and landing forces, and Chinese soldiers have vowed to give up their lives should there be a war against Taiwan.
“If one day, the