They went all the way round to approach Taiwan from the East, then they headed towards the border as if to cross it, perhaps generating a response from the CCP, but then they skirted Taiwanese airspace so it looked like they could be faking the visit to provoke a response in international waters.

Then, at the last minute they dropped altitude and sped for the airport over the shortest possible distance.

The only reason to do that is if you thought the CCP might actually shoot you down. Apparently that flight was escorted in by 5 f15's (not on public radar obviously) as well.