Oil prices, fear of Trump? China mysteriously reduced warplane activity near Taiwan

(Defense News) Could it be high fuel prices, or a desire to avoid upsetting U.S. President Donald Trump? What about China’s annual political confab in early March? Analysts have offered different explanations for a recent trend: a net reduction in daily Chinese fighter plane activity near Taiwan over the past three weeks. While the People’s Liberation Army has said nothing of the drop in activity near the self-ruled island that China claims as its own – flyby data comes from Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense – analysts point to a confluence of likely reasons led by political calculations. – Oil prices, fear of Trump? China mysteriously reduced warplane activity near Taiwan