Following the August 2022 exercises, crossings of the Taiwan Strait median line by PLA aircraft become routine rather than exceptional, and Beijing publicly rejects the line's existence as a recognised limit. Taiwan's defence ministry continues to report crossings daily.
Why it mattersThis is the single clearest illustration of how grey-zone pressure actually works: no announcement, no incident, no threshold crossed — an unwritten restraint observed for half a century simply stopped being observed, and the new normal was never given back. It is also why "no significant change" in a reporting period can still describe deterioration.