If there is one global flashpoint right now, it is the South China Sea. The subject of myriad maritime disputes, it is often the subject of the US and China tensions, with the US threatening sanctions over island ownership.
With the risk of exchanges of fire already high, Taiwan has decided this is a good time for a military exercise with live fire drills, including launching torpedoes into the waters to simulate attacks on dummy targets.
China is always tense with Taiwan, and the two have territorial disputes in the South China Sea, so this too is another risk of something becoming another moment where a misunderstanding could quickly escalate out of control.
Taiwan, for its part, emphasized the power of the weapons deployed to the exercise, and that this is the first time in 13 years of exercises they used the torpedoes.
What was the US agreement with Chiang Kai Shek re. the South China Sea ?
Taiwan’s (the ROC) and China’s (PRC) claims in the South China Sea are identical as are their claims vis-a-vis Japan in some of those islands between Okinawa and Taiwan.