All roads lead to Taiwan: China’s Maritime Gray Zone Strategy

As a precursor to seizing Taiwan, China has engaged in a Gray Zone effort to establish control over significant parts of the South China Sea. It has done this through irregular warfare; that is, while using violence, Beijing has remained below a threshold which will prompt a military response. Of particular concern is Beijing’s strategic intent to restore national unity by the centennial of the 1949 Chinese Communist Party (CCP) seizure of power. The first year of Trump II has seen resistance, led by the United States, but deterrence will require a more active American approach: working with allies and challenging Beijing’s irregular war strategy. Neither of these required courses of action appears to be salient in present calculations by Washington.