China’s maritime presence around Taiwan is becoming the new normal - ACLED

China's normalization of sustained maritime military presence around Taiwan directly shifts the Indo-Pacific balance of power and raises the credibility of Chinese military coercion. For Australia, this signals an accelerating PLA capability and willingness to operate at scale in waters critical to regional trade, energy flows, and allied defence posture, materially increasing the likelihood of a Taiwan crisis that would force Australian strategic commitments and disrupt the economic and security architecture Australia depends upon.