Taiwan is being pressured by China's constant gray-zone activity around its waters, and the advice from a former top US commander in the Pacific is blunt — push back now or let Beijing set a new normal.

• Dennis Blair, former head of US Pacific Command, says China's goal is to squeeze political concessions out of Taiwan without ever invading.
• He compares the tactic to a medieval siege, with China digging closer and closer until the defenders give up.
• His two-part answer: track every Chinese ship and aircraft within 200 miles, and enforce international law in the waters Taiwan is responsible for.
• Taiwan should not chase every Chinese vessel, he says, but rank them by threat and stay unpredictable to keep the initiative.
• If China ever escalates to an actual blockade, that crosses from gray to black, and the US and others would step in.

Outlook: Expect Taiwan to lean harder on monitoring and law enforcement at sea rather than shadowing every Chinese ship, with allies more willing to help now that Taipei is spending more on its own defense.