Beijing’s denial of the existence of a Taiwan Strait maritime border this week amounted to a dismantling of the status quo maintained with Taipei, the foreign minister of the self-ruled island said on Tuesday.

The midline of the strait existed to prevent military conflict between Taiwan and mainland China and had served as a symbol of peace and stability for a long time, Joseph Wu said during the European Union Investment Forum held in Taipei.

In denying the presence of the midline, the mainland’s statement threatened the status quo, akin to the demise of “one country, two systems” in Hong Kong, Wu said.

He was referring to Beijing foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin claiming on Monday that there was no such thing as a midline of the strait, after Taiwanese aircraft over the past week issued warnings to mainland Chinese warplanes that crossed the sensitive midline into the island’s air defense identification zone.

Taipei strongly condemned the mainland aircraft’s crossings and urged the international community to demand that Beijing stop its behavior, Wu said.

The midline was dictated by history, having been drawn in the 1950s by an officer from the United States Pacific Command when Washington and Taipei signed a mutual defense pact. It served to determine the scope of activity for U.S. fleets and warplanes and to check then Taiwanese president Chiang Kai-shek’s inclination to launch counter-attacks on mainland China.

The mainland had largely respected the midline since 1999, but recent developments in Taipei-Washington relations might have prompted Beijing’s latest moves, former Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou said on Tuesday.

It was reported in late August that Taiwan would buy NT$81 billion (US$2.8 billion) worth of weapons from the U.S., including coastal defense cruise missiles.

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