Taiwan detects 14 Chinese military aircraft, six naval vessels around nation

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence (MND) said it detected 14 Chinese military aircraft and six naval vessels around Taiwan between 6 am (local time) on Wednesday and 6 am (local time) on Thursday.

According to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence (MND), among the 14 Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, two crossed the Taiwan Strait median line. Four aircrafts were tracked in the southwest and southeast corners of Taiwan’s Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ), Taiwan News reported.

Following China’s activity, Taiwan deployed aircraft, naval ships and air defence missile systems to keep track of the Chinese PLA activity. So far in April, Taiwan has detected Chinese military aircraft 71 times and naval vessels 63 times, according to Taiwan News report.

In a post on X, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence (MND) stated, “14 PLA aircraft and 6 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 6 of the aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan’s SW and eastern ADIZ.”

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

On April 10, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence (MND) announced that it had detected ten Chinese military aircraft and seven naval vessels around Taiwan between 6 am on Tuesday and 6 am on Wednesday.

Taiwan MND also tracked one Chinese balloon crossing the median line 115 km (62 NM) northwest of Keelung on Tuesday at 8:03 am (local time), Taiwan News reported.

According to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence, of the 10 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, two crossed the Taiwan Strait median line and four entered the southwest corner of the country’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ).

Taking to X, Taiwan’s MND stated, “10 PLA aircraft and 7 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. today. 6 of the aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan’s SW ADIZ. #ROCArmedForces have monitored the situation and employed appropriate forces to respond.”