Below the Threshold: China's Gray Zone Campaign Against Taiwan

Sun, 26 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The People’s Republic of China has been conducting a sustained campaign of pressure against Taiwan that falls below the threshold of armed attack and above the threshold of normal competitive statecraft. This gray zone — the space between peace and war where coercion operates through ambiguity, exhaustion, and the deliberate exploitation of thresholds — has been the primary arena of Chinese pressure on Taiwan for years and is the operating environment that Taiwan’s defense establishment spends more of its daily attention managing than any invasion scenario.

Gray Zone on Taiwan Strait

Below the Threshold: China's Gray Zone Campaign Against Taiwan