China is upping the ante against Taiwan and democracies the world over.

Beijing confirmed on Monday that it now asserts formal sovereignty over the entirety of the Taiwan Strait, an area of largely international waters that separates Taiwan from China. While Beijing’s assertion has no credible legal foundation, the ruling Communist Party hopes it will deter the United States and other nations from sending warships through the Taiwan Strait. Discouraging those transits has taken on added concern in Beijing in light of the Biden administration’s moves to deter a prospective Chinese invasion of the island democracy.

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