The Taiwan Strait -- A History of Crises

The harbor on Taiwan's Nangan island in the Matsu islands with a view of Fujian province, China, on April 10, 2023. (AFP)
The harbor on Taiwan's Nangan island in the Matsu islands with a view of Fujian province, China, on April 10, 2023. (AFP)
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The Taiwan Strait -- A History of Crises

The harbor on Taiwan's Nangan island in the Matsu islands with a view of Fujian province, China, on April 10, 2023. (AFP)
The harbor on Taiwan's Nangan island in the Matsu islands with a view of Fujian province, China, on April 10, 2023. (AFP)

Ever since Communist China and Taiwan broke away from each other at the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, the waterway separating them has been a geopolitical flashpoint.

The Taiwan Strait, just 130 kilometers (80 miles) wide at its narrowest point, is a major international shipping channel and all that lies between democratic, self-ruled Taiwan and its giant neighbor.

With Beijing conducting a third day of military drills around the island, here is a look at the major China-Taiwan crises since 1949:

First Taiwan Strait Crisis

Mao Zedong's communist forces successfully pushed out Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists, who relocated to Taiwan, at the end of the Chinese Civil War.

The two rivals -- the People's Republic of China (PRC) on the mainland and the Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan -- stood on either side of the strait.

The First Taiwan Strait Crisis broke out in August 1954 when the Nationalists placed thousands of troops on Taiwan-ruled Kinmen and Matsu, two small islands just a few miles from the mainland.

China responded with artillery bombardment of the islands and the successful capture of the Yijiangshan Islands, about 400 kilometers north of Taipei.

The crisis was eventually defused but brought China and the United States to the brink of direct conflict.

Second Taiwan Strait Crisis

Fighting broke out again in 1958 as Mao's forces conducted an intense bombardment of Kinmen and Matsu in another bid to dislodge Nationalist troops.

Concerned that the loss of the islands might lead to the collapse of the Nationalists and Beijing's eventual takeover of Taiwan, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered his military to escort and resupply their Taiwanese allies.

The United States at one point even briefly considered deploying nuclear weapons against China.

Unable to take the offshore islands or bombard the Nationalists into submission, Beijing announced a ceasefire.

Mao's forces would still intermittently shell Kinmen up to 1979, but an otherwise tense stalemate set in.

Third Taiwan Strait Crisis

It would be another 37 years before the next crisis.

In the intervening decades, China and Taiwan both changed considerably.

China remained Communist Party-controlled following Mao's death but began a period of reform and opening up to the world.

Taiwan began shaking off Chiang's authoritarian years and evolved into a progressive democracy, with many embracing a distinctly Taiwanese -- not Chinese -- identity.

Tensions exploded again in 1995 when China began test-firing missiles in the waters around Taiwan to protest against a visit by Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui to his alma mater in the United States.

Beijing loathed Lee because he favored Taiwan declaring itself an independent state.

Further missile tests were carried out a year later as Taiwan held its first direct presidential election.

The display backfired.

The United States sent two aircraft carrier groups to push China into backing down and Lee won the election by a large margin.

A year later, Newt Gingrich became the first US House speaker to visit Taiwan.

Largest-ever exercises

It took over 25 years before the next House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, went to Taiwan.

Following Nancy Pelosi's visit in August 2022, China unleashed its largest-ever military exercises around Taiwan, sending warships, missiles and fighter jets around the island.

Taipei condemned the drills and missile tests as preparation for an invasion.

Less than a year later, Tsai arrived in Los Angeles to meet Pelosi's successor, Kevin McCarthy, setting off another round of Chinese military exercises.

Analysts had initially said that Tsai meeting McCarthy in the United States may placate Beijing and avert a military show of strength.

But on Saturday, China began three days of military drills it described as "a stern warning" to Taiwan over the meeting.

The drills included simulated strikes on the island. On Monday, China was scheduled to conduct live-fire drills.



Amputee Palestinian Boy Image Wins World Press Photo Award

This image provided by World Press Photo and taken by Samar Abu Elouf, for The New York Times, won the World Press Photo Award of the Year and shows Mahmoud Ajjour (9), who was injured during an Israeli attack on Gaza City in March 2024, finds refuge and medical help in Doha, Qatar, 28 June 2024. (Samar Abu Elouf, for The New York Times/World Press Photo via AP)
This image provided by World Press Photo and taken by Samar Abu Elouf, for The New York Times, won the World Press Photo Award of the Year and shows Mahmoud Ajjour (9), who was injured during an Israeli attack on Gaza City in March 2024, finds refuge and medical help in Doha, Qatar, 28 June 2024. (Samar Abu Elouf, for The New York Times/World Press Photo via AP)
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Amputee Palestinian Boy Image Wins World Press Photo Award

This image provided by World Press Photo and taken by Samar Abu Elouf, for The New York Times, won the World Press Photo Award of the Year and shows Mahmoud Ajjour (9), who was injured during an Israeli attack on Gaza City in March 2024, finds refuge and medical help in Doha, Qatar, 28 June 2024. (Samar Abu Elouf, for The New York Times/World Press Photo via AP)
This image provided by World Press Photo and taken by Samar Abu Elouf, for The New York Times, won the World Press Photo Award of the Year and shows Mahmoud Ajjour (9), who was injured during an Israeli attack on Gaza City in March 2024, finds refuge and medical help in Doha, Qatar, 28 June 2024. (Samar Abu Elouf, for The New York Times/World Press Photo via AP)

A haunting portrait of a nine-year-old Palestinian boy who lost both arms during an Israeli attack on Gaza City won the 2025 World Press Photo of the Year Award Thursday.

The picture, by Samar Abu Elouf for The New York Times, depicts Mahmoud Ajjour, evacuated to Doha after an explosion severed one arm and mutilated the other last year.

"One of the most difficult things Mahmoud's mother explained to me was how when Mahmoud first came to the realisation that his arms were amputated, the first sentence he said to her was, 'How will I be able to hug you'?" said Elouf.

The photographer is also from Gaza and was herself evacuated in December 2023. She now portrays badly wounded Palestinians based in Doha.

"This is a quiet photo that speaks loudly. It tells the story of one boy, but also of a wider war that will have an impact for generations," said Joumana El Zein Khoury, World Press Photo Executive Director.

The jury praised the photo's "strong composition and attention to light" and its thought-provoking subject-matter, especially questions raised over Mahmoud's future.

The boy is now learning to play games on his phone, write, and open doors with his feet, the jury said.

"Mahmoud's dream is simple: he wants to get prosthetics and live his life as any other child," said the World Press Photo organisers in a statement.

The jury also selected two photos for the runner-up prize.

The first, entitled "Droughts in the Amazon" by Musuk Nolte for Panos Pictures and the Bertha Foundation, shows a man on a dried-up river bed in the Amazon carrying supplies to a village once accessible by boat.

The second, "Night Crossing" by John Moore shooting for Getty Images, depicts Chinese migrants huddling near a fire during a cold rainshower after crossing the US–Mexico border.

The jury sifted through 59,320 photographs from 3,778 photo journalists to select 42 prize-winning shots from around the world.

Photographers for Agence France-Presse were selected four times for a regional prize, more than any other organization.

Nairobi-based Luis Tato won in the "Stories" category for the Africa region for a selection of photos depicting Kenya's youth uprising.

Jerome Brouillet won in the "Singles" category Asia-Pacific and Oceania for his iconic picture of surfer Gabriel Medina seemingly floating above the waves.

Clarens Siffroy won in the "Stories" category North and Central America for his coverage of the gang crisis in Haiti.

Finally, Anselmo Cunha won in the "Singles" category for South America for his photo of a Boeing 727-200 stranded at Salgado Filho International Airport in Brazil.