China flexes military muscles in S.Korea, Japan and Taiwan
Six Chinese H-6 bombers, an intelligence gathering plane and an early warning plane were seen flying over the Tsushima Strait in Japan; Japan scrambled fighter jets in response. Whilst at the same time, South Korea reported 10 Chinese planes entering Korean air defence identification areas, also causing them to launch fighter jets and send out a warning signal broadcast. Finally, a Chinese aircraft carrier entered the Taiwan Strait this week, coming after talks between Donald Trump and Taiwan's president which raised tensions between Beijing and Taipei. These moves reveal again China's determination to flex its military muscles in the waters in which its interests lie.

HONG KONG — Taiwan scrambled F-16 fighter jets and dispatched a frigate to the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday after China sent its sole aircraft carrier into the waterway, Taiwan’s official Central News Agency reported.

The transit of the aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, came amid rising tensions between Taiwan and China after President-elect Donald J. Trump broke decades of protocol by speaking on the phone with Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, after his election victory. Ms. Tsai leads a political party that has traditionally supported Taiwan’s formal independence from China.

Ms. Tsai, who is visiting Central America this week, made two calls to officials in Taiwan seeking updates on the Liaoning’s transit, the Central News Agency reported, citing Alex Huang, the president’s spokesman. China’s decision to send the carrier through the waterway that separates it from Taiwan reflects an early foreign policy challenge for Mr. Trump.

“It’s a show of force, and I think it is intended in part to intimidate, and that’s worrisome from the U.S. and Taiwan’s point of view because we don’t know how much more they are going to ratchet up these pressures and tensions,” said Bonnie S. Glaser, senior adviser for Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “If the Trump administration does see this as a test of U.S. resolve, I suspect they’ll push back pretty forcefully.”