What to make of China’s military drills around Taiwan

Restraint may not be the first word that springs to mind when Chinese warplanes and naval ships simulate an attack on Taiwan. But the three days of drills that ended on April 10th were on the milder end of the spectrum of China’s potential responses to a meeting between Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, and the speaker of America’s House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, in California on April 5th. Most important, China did not fire missiles over or around Taiwan, as it did after the previous speaker, Nancy Pelosi, visited the self-governing island in August.