US closes fighter jet deal with South Korea as East Asia tensions rise

Taiwan is currently seeing an increase in Chinese military posturing off its coastline. “The period from July to September this year was the peak period for the Chinese Communist Party’s exercises,” Maj. Gen. Huang Wen-Chi said in a recent press conference. China has sent warships and planes into Taiwanese territory almost daily this year, an apparent ramping up of its military presence in the area.• 1 Meanwhile, China is progressing in its development of an aircraft carrier, the Fujian, which is expected to be finished in 2025.• 2

Beijing unveiled an “integration plan” that it claims would help Taiwanese people work and live in China. In an interview with The Guardian, Rorry Daniels, managing director of Asia Society Policy Institute, said the plan’s release on Wednesday, coupled with the ramped-up military measures, painted a stark picture of Beijing’s goals. “How are the Taiwanese people supposed to interpret this? Go to the mainland for great economic opportunity, but fly over the warships we’ve surrounded your island with?” she asked.• 3

Concerns have been swirling for months over North Korea’s nuclear threat. The isolated nation has ramped up testing of missiles and intercontinental ballistic missiles, prompting the U.S. and South Korea to conduct more joint military exercises.• 4 “Overall, in the last year, both North and South Korea have taken a less compromising position, shored up alliances, and ramped up military provocations and readiness,” The Council on Foreign Relations noted in a recent overview of the conflict.• 5