00:00For the past six days, Taiwan has recorded no nearby incursions by Chinese military aircraft.
00:05It follows a record low for February, when incursions around Taiwan failed to their lowest
00:10level in recent years. What's behind this drop, and what could it signal about China's gray zone
00:16operations? First of all, it's possibly the purge, because the purge over 80% or even 90%
00:25of the top generals and admirals would definitely, to some point, impact the maneuvers, the operation
00:32or even the combat readiness of the People's Liberation Army. But on the other hand, I would
00:37put my money in. The other situation is that they are trying to explore the joint operation
00:44training model. The new model, by 2027, they need to have a basic capability on the joint
00:52operation. But they have not finished the joint operation training reform that started since
00:592020. And to me, that is why the sorties around Taiwan has decreased. I would say He Weidong's
01:07purge in April 2025, when he disappeared, probably had some impact on how PLA maneuvers around Taiwan.
01:16Because compared to Zhang Yuxia, He Weidong is more prone to, you know, combat readiness patrol because
01:22he's from the reconnaissance unit from the army. So he would put more stress on this type of, I would
01:28say, gray zone operation activities around Taiwan to gauge Taiwan's role of engagement, Taiwan's combat
01:34readiness, or even to test how the Taiwanese government would react on the PLA's harassment.
01:43During every major political event of the CCP, they would decrease their aircraft sorties or even
01:51naval vessels around Taiwan. They even do it during the new year. On the other hand, whether it is
01:57because the major, you know, upcoming operation around Taiwan may be an exercise or joint drills,
02:03I would say, yeah, that is also possible.
02:05So,
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