After a mysterious lull of nearly two weeks, China has resumed provocative aerial missions toward Taiwan. Ahead of the US President Donald Trump’s visit to China and an arms sale to Taiwan, the Chinese behaviour has troubled officials and analysts as they have struggled to understand if it’s a warning or an olive branch.

Security analysts suggest mass gathering of fishing vessels in geometric formations may represent a test of Beijing’s ability to mobilise civilian fleets for strategic use. Shweta Sharma reports

Beijing hasn’t explained why it abruptly stopped what had become a routine practice, nor its resumption.

When Chinese warplanes suddenly stopped flying near Taiwan for nearly two weeks, the silence was both striking and deeply puzzling.

Over the years, a regular Chinese campaign of sending warplanes flying toward Taiwan — the self-governing island it claims as its territory — has raised alarm from Taipei to Washington. Now, a sharp drop in the number of flights in the past two weeks has analysts scratching their heads about what China’s military may be up to.

Taiwan has replaced “Korea” with “South Korea” on residency documents issued to Korean nationals, in a reciprocal move to Seoul’s continued designation of the island state as “China (Taiwan)” on its electronic arrival forms.