Taiwan detects 10 Chinese military aircraft, six naval ships around nation

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence detected 10 Chinese military aircraft and six naval vessels around the nation between 6 a.m. on Sunday (April 21) and 6 a.m. on Monday (April 22), reported Taiwan News.

Eight out of the 10 Chinese aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait median line, according to the Ministry of Defence.

In retaliation, Taiwan sent planes and naval ships and deployed air defence missile systems to monitor the PLA activity.

Since September 2020, China has increased its use of grey zone tactics by incrementally increasing the number of military aircraft and naval ships operating around Taiwan, reported Taiwan News.

The Gray zone tactics are defined as “an effort or series of efforts beyond steady-state deterrence and assurance that attempts to achieve one’s security objectives without resort to direct and sizable use of force.”

Taiwan has tracked Chinese military aircraft 203 times and naval vessels 131 times so far this month.

It is to be noted that there is tension amid Taiwan and China’s dispute over the waters around Kinmen. China is repeatedly trespassing in the waters surrounding Taiwan-held Kinmen, Taiwan News reported in March.

The boundaries were set for the Kinmen island by Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense in 1992, as per Taiwan news reports in February.

Although Beijing does not recognise Taiwan’s territorial claims (since it claims Taiwan as its own territory), Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) argues that China has tacitly abided by the boundaries, such that denying them now constitutes a change of the status quo.