median line

English

Map including the median line of the Taiwan Strait (also called the Davis Line)

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -aɪn

Noun

median line (plural median lines)

1. A line drawn (on a map) in a maritime area which marks the maritime boundary between two countries.
   • 2020 September 18, Wendy Tang, “US to sell missiles to Taiwan amid China tensions”, in The Times‎^[1], →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 10 August 2021:

     Taiwan’s air force said it scrambled jets after 18 Chinese aircraft, including bombers and fighters, crossed the so-called median line that divides the Taiwan Strait.

   • 2022 August 14, Yi-Mou Lee, Shanghai Newsroom, “Taiwan says 11 Chinese military aircraft crossed Taiwan's median line”, in David Goodman, editor, Reuters‎^[2], archived from the original on 14 August 2022, Asia Pacific:

     Eleven Chinese military aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait's median line or entered Taiwan’s air defence zone on Sunday, Taiwan's Defence Ministry said, as Beijing continues military activities close to the Chinese-claimed island.

   • 2022 December 26, Amy Chang Chien, Chang Che, “With Record Military Incursions, China Warns Taiwan and the U.S.”, in The New York Times‎^[3], →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 December 2022, Asia Pacific‎^[4]:

     The latest military exercise was notable for breaking a single-day record, both in total number of aircraft deployed as well as the number that crossed the so-called median line, an informal boundary between the two sides. Forty-seven out of the 71 aircraft crossed that line, according to the Taiwanese defense ministry. Passing over the line is seen as more provocative, because the aircraft would be on a straight course over Taiwan if they did not veer away.

   • 2023 April 8, Christian Shepherd, Vic Chiang, “Chinese military starts drills encircling Taiwan after Tsai’s U.S. visits”, in The Washington Post‎^[5], →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 08 April 2023, Asia‎^[6]:

     Taiwanese authorities said eight military ships and 42 warplanes were spotted near Taiwan from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. local time Saturday. Twenty-nine of those jets had flown close to Taiwanese airspace or crossed the median line — an unofficial boundary running down the middle of the Taiwan Strait — that Beijing has increasingly violated in recent months.

   • 2023 September 18, “Taiwan urges China to stop ‘destructive’ military activities as fighter jets cross median line”, in The Guardian‎^[7], sourced from Reuters/AP, →ISSN:

     Its map of Chinese activities over the past 24 hours showed fighter jets crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait, which had served as an unofficial barrier between the two sides until China began regularly crossing it a year ago.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:median line.

Translations

maritime boundary

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: keskiviiva (fi)
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can

Further reading

• median line at the Google Books Ngram Viewer.