Chokepoint · East Asia
Taiwan Strait
OpenUpdated September 29, 2026
The Taiwan Strait is the sea passage between mainland China and Taiwan that joins the East China Sea to the South China Sea. It is about 126 km wide at its narrowest and 180 km wide on average. Ships from China, Japan and South Korea sail through it on their way to Southeast Asia and Europe.
- Width at the narrowest
- About 126 km
- 68 nautical miles
- Average width
- 180 km
- about 60 m deep on average
- Goods in 2022
- $2.45 trillion
- over a fifth of maritime trade
- Ships a day
- 226
- 240 a day in 2023
- Shores
China
Taiwan
Where is the Taiwan Strait?
The Taiwan Strait lies between China's Fujian province and the island of Taiwan. It joins the East China Sea in the north to the South China Sea in the south. At its narrowest, between China's Pingtan island and Hsinchu in Taiwan, it is about 126 km wide. The strait is shallow, about 60 meters deep on average. Taiwan holds the Penghu islands in the strait and the Kinmen and Matsu islands just off China's coast.
CHINA
TAIWAN
Kinmen
Matsu
Penghu
Pingtan
Taipei
Kaohsiung
East China Sea
South China Sea
126 km
CHINA
TAIWAN
Kinmen
Matsu
Penghu
Pingtan
Taipei
Kaohsiung
South China Sea
126 km
How busy is the Taiwan Strait?
The Taiwan Strait is one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. In the four weeks to September 20, about 226 ships a day passed through it, against 240 in 2023. About $2.45 trillion worth of goods passed through the strait in 2022, more than a fifth of the world's maritime trade. Nearly half of the cargo ships and tankers that pass each year fly China's flag.
Ships through the strait each day
Weekly average, January 2023 to September 2026
Who controls the Taiwan Strait?
No one fully. China holds the western coast and Taiwan the eastern coast and the islands. The strait is much wider than two 12-nautical-mile territorial seas, so its middle is international waters where ships and aircraft of every country may pass. China said in June 2022 that it has sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the strait. The United States says the freedoms of the high seas apply there.
Across the strait at its narrowest
About 126 km, 68 nautical miles
How often does China hold drills around Taiwan?
China has held eight large military exercises around Taiwan since August 2022. In the first, after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, China sent missiles over Taiwan. In October 2024 a single day brought a record 153 Chinese military aircraft. The Justice Mission exercise on December 29 and 30, 2025 brought 130 aircraft and 22 ships and rehearsed a blockade of Taiwan's ports. In June 2026 China's coast guard said it had inspected 198 ships east of Taiwan.
China's largest drills around Taiwan
- August 2022After Nancy Pelosi's visit. Missiles fly over Taiwan.
- April 2023Joint Sword
- May 2024Joint Sword-2024A
- October 2024Joint Sword-2024B, a record 153 aircraft in one day
- April 2025Strait Thunder-2025A
- December 2025Justice Mission-2025, a rehearsal of a blockade of Taiwan's ports
The strait over the years
- 1662Koxinga, a Ming loyalist who sails from Kinmen, forces the Dutch to surrender their fort on Taiwan.
- 1949Chiang Kai-shek's government retreats to Taiwan after losing China's civil war.
- 1958China fires about 475,000 shells at Kinmen over 44 days, then shells Kinmen on alternate days until 1979.
- 1996China fires missiles into the sea near Taiwan before Taiwan's first direct presidential election, and the US sends two carrier groups.
- 2022After Nancy Pelosi visits Taiwan in August, Chinese missiles fly over Taiwan.
- Dec 2025China's Justice Mission exercise rehearses a blockade of Taiwan's main ports.
