China's Two-Week Pause in Taiwan Strait Air Activity Ahead of US-China Summit

For nearly two weeks from late February to early March 2026, Chinese military aircraft largely ceased incursions into Taiwan's Air Defence Identification Zone, marking an unusual pause in a typically frequent pattern. This lull ended recently with renewed flights near the Taiwan Strait. Analysts attribute the silence to a combination of diplomatic signaling ahead of a planned US-China summit and economic factors such as rising oil prices affecting China. Taiwan's military and experts note this pause as unprecedented since data tracking began in 2020.