Why China Suddenly Stopped Flying Over Taiwan

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For nearly three years, Chinese fighter jets and drones have flown daily near Taiwan, creating what Beijing calls the “new normal.” Then suddenly, on February 28, everything stopped. For 192 hours, the Taiwan Strait went silent—no sorties, no drones, no signals. Why did the PLA suddenly hit the brakes? In this episode, we examine the mysterious pause in China’s military activity and explore whether the trigger came from thousands of miles away: the U.S.–Israel strikes on Iran during Operation Epic Fury. Did the battlefield in Iran expose weaknesses in Chinese military technology—and force Beijing to reassess its strategy toward Taiwan?

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