Taiwan detects four Chinese naval ships around nation

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence (MND) said it tracked four Chinese naval ships around Taiwan between 6 am on Sunday to 6 am on Monday.

In an official tweet on X, Taiwan Defence Ministry said that “4 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. #ROCArmedForces have monitored the situation and employed appropriate forces to respond.”

According to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence, Taiwanese armed forces have monitored the situation and deployed naval vessels and coastal systems in response to China’s activities.

No People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait median line or entered the country’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ) during that time.

Earlier, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence tracked six Chinese naval vessels operating around the country from 6 am (local time) on April 6 to 6 am (local time) on April 7

In a statement, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence stated, “6 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. ROC Armed Forces have monitored the situation and employed Navy vessels and coastal missile systems in response to the detected activities.”

“Illustration of flight path is not provided due to no PLA aircraft crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait or entering Taiwan’s southwestern ADIZ during this timeframe,” it added.

On April 6, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence (MND) observed the seven Chinese naval vessels and one aircraft around Taiwan between 6 am (local time) on Friday and 6 am (local time) on Saturday.

According to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence (MND), Chinese aircraft entered Taiwan’s Eastern Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ). In response, Taiwan deployed aircraft, naval ships and air defence missile systems to monitor China’s activity.

In a post on X, Taiwan’s MND stated, “1 PLA aircraft and 7 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s eastern ADIZ. #ROCArmedForces have monitored the situation and employed appropriate forces to respond.”

So far this month, Taiwan has tracked Chinese military aircraft 40 times and naval vessels 45 times.

Since September 2020, China has increased its use of gray zone tactics by incrementally increasing the number of military aircraft and naval ships 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.”