Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence (MND) said that six Chinese naval vessels were detected around Taiwan between 6 am (local time) on Monday and 6 am (local time) on Tuesday, Taiwan News reported.

According to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence (MND), Taiwan sent aircraft and naval ships and deployed coastal-based missile systems to monitor the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) activity

No PLA aircraft were tracked in Taiwan’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ), as per Taiwan News.

“6 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. We have monitored the situation and responded accordingly. Today’s illustration of flight path is not provided due to no PLA aircraft operations around Taiwan were detected during this timeframe,” Taiwan’s MND said on X.

This latest Chinese military activity adds to a series of similar provocations by Beijing in recent months. China has increased its military activities near Taiwan, including regular air and naval incursions into Taiwan’s ADIZ and military exercises near the island.

So far this month, Taiwan has tracked 321 Chinese military aircraft and 186 ships. Since September 2020, China has increased its use of gray zone tactics by incrementally increasing the number of military aircraft and naval vessels operating around Taiwan.

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 been governed independently since 1949. However, China considers Taiwan part of its territory and insists on eventual reunification, by force if necessary.

Earlier in July, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te accused the Chinese government of misinterpreting a United Nations resolution to justify its military activities against Taiwan and drawing an inappropriate linkage to its “One China” principle, the Central News Agency (CNA) reported.

Beijing claims that the UN resolution confirmed its one-China principle, which implies that there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is part of China.