Taiwan detects 16 Chinese military aircraft, eight naval vessels around nation

Taiwan has detected 16 Chinese military aircraft and eight naval vessels around the nation during the last 24 hours till 6 am (local time) on Saturday, Taiwan News reported.

Among the 16 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, 12 crossed the Taiwan Strait media line and entered the southwest corner of the country’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ), Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence (MND) said.

In response, Taiwan deployed aircraft, naval ships and air defence missile systems to monitor PLA activity. So far in April, Taiwan has detected Chinese military aircraft 101 times and naval vessels 79 times, according to the Taiwan News report.

In a post on X, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence stated, “16 PLA aircraft and 8 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. today. 12 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.”

Since September 2020, China has intensified its use of gray zone tactics by increasing the number of military aircraft and naval ships operating around Taiwan.

According to Taiwan News report, 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.”

On April 12, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence (MND) announced that it had detected fourteen Chinese military aircraft and eight naval vessels around Taiwan between 6 am on Thursday and 6 am on Friday.

Of the 14 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, four crossed the Taiwan Strait median line and five entered the southwest corner of the country’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ). In response, Taiwan sent aircraft and naval ships and deployed air defence missile systems to monitor PLA activity.