Taiwan will set up six locations in the seas surrounding Taiwan to monitor shipping to and from China, the agency cited Defense Minister Chen Chao-min as saying yesterday. The checkpoints will examine every Chinese ship heading for Taiwanese ports, Chen was quoted as saying.
This sounds like ships permanently stationed in the Taiwan Strait that will require ships to halt at sea and be boarded. I'll have to wait and see how this is set up, I guess.
This will reduce, but not eliminate, the risk of China sneaking soldiers into Taiwanese ports prior to an official attack on Taiwan.
As a bonus, such a naval presence serves as a tripwire and will compel the Chinese to attack them early in a conflict to keep these ships from shooting up the initial wave of ships crossing the Strait.
