Taiwan Strait

Taiwan Strait is a 180-kilometre-wide strait separating the island of Taiwan and mainland China.
The strait is also called Formosa Strait.
The strait is currently part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north
The narrowest part is 130 km wide.
The entire strait is on Asia’s continental shelf.
It reaches a depth of about 230 feet (70 m) and contains the Pescadores Islands (which are controlled by the government of Taiwan).
The chief ports are Amoy in mainland China and Kao-hsiung in Taiwan.
Note: A strait is a narrow piece of the sea connecting two seas.

What is the median line of the Taiwan Strait?

It is the informal dividing line in the Taiwan Strait between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan.
It came about during the Cold War as a way to try and delineate the two opposing sides and reduce the risk of clashes.
No agreement or treaty ever solidified its status. But over the decades, it helped keep Taiwan and China’s militaries apart.

12 April 2023
- Seventy-one Chinese military aircraft crossed the sensitive median line of the Taiwan Strait recently as China began drills around Taiwan.
31 September 2022:
- Two U.S. Navy warships sailed through international waters in the Formosa Strait, the first such operation since a visit to Taiwan by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi enraged China which regards the island as its territory.