Taiwan reports increased Chinese military activity near its territory

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence (MND) has said that 24 Chinese military aircraft and 10 naval vessels were detected operating around Taiwan from 6 am (local time) on Friday to 6 am (local time) on Saturday.

According to Taiwan’s MND, 22 of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered the country’s central, southwestern, and eastern Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ).

In response to China’s activity, Taiwan sent aircraft, and naval ships and deployed coastal-based missile systems to monitor Beijing’s action.

In a post on X, Taiwan’s MND stated, “24 PLA aircraft and 10 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 22 of the aircraft crossed the median line and entered Taiwan’s central, southwestern, and eastern ADIZ. We have monitored the situation and responded accordingly.”

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

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 has long been a point of contention for Beijing, which considers the island part of its territory and has repeatedly expressed intentions to reunify it with the mainland, even by force if necessary. China has been regularly sending fighter jets into airspace close to the island and warships near Taiwanese waters.

Amid rising tensions with China, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) Armanenets Bureau on Wednesday unveiled updated T112 assault rifles and redesigned bullet-resistant panels, Taipei Times reported.

Indigenous T112 Assault rifles have improvements to the trigger and grip. They also feature a new shell ejection deflection, MND said. According to Taipei Times report, the bullet-resistant panels have recieved significant updates, as they can now withstand 5.8mm steel core bullets, researcher Hsu Yen-wei with the Materiel Production Center’s 205th Arsenal in Kaohsiung said at a media event.

Even though Taiwan’s military could not obtain the 5.8mm bullets, which are used by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, for testing, they emulated them by changing the velocity of 5.56mm bullets, Hsu said.

The current bullet-resistant panels used by Taiwan security forces can only withstand regular 7.62mm bullets. However, the new panels weigh slightly more (2.2kg) than the current panels (1.9 kg), Taipei Times reported. The bureau informed that about 60,000 units are to be produced in the first batch set for delivery next year.