Beijing has put a modest number of ships and planes around Taiwan while Xi Jinping's one demand from Washington sits unanswered on Trump's desk. Taiwan says three PLA aircraft and six PLAN vessels were active around the island on Tuesday. One aircraft entered its south-west air defence zone.

The count is small. That is the point. A large surge would hand Washington a reason to answer Xi's ask with a rebuke. A steady presence hands Trump nothing to react to and nothing to hide behind.

The demand itself is on the record. Xi asked Trump to say Washington opposes Taiwan independence and left without a yes. The desk's register has the summit ending with no agreement and the request unanswered.

Beijing has not yet decided whether to raise the number. It has decided to keep it above zero every day the question stays open.

Taiwan News also reported a Chinese research ship probing waters around the Diaoyutai islands, the name Taipei uses for the chain Japan calls the Senkakus. A survey vessel does not carry weapons. It collects data on the seabed and the water, and a country collects that data when it expects to need it.

Two reports, two different theatres. Beijing is showing Taipei and Tokyo the same thing: the summit changed the diplomacy in Washington and did not change the schedule at sea.

If this read is right, Beijing will hold the deployment at this size until Trump answers the independence question, and every day without an answer becomes routine that the next escalation can build on.