Taiwan says it detected 10 Chinese military aircraft, 7 naval vessels around nation

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence (MND) has announced that it has 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).

In response to Chinese activity, Taiwan sent aircraft, naval ships and deployed air defence missile systems to keep a track of Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) activity, according to Taiwan News report.

The Chinese balloon, which was detected crossing the median line 115 km (62 NM) northwest of Keelung at 8:03 am travelled northest and disappeared at 8:50 am (local time).

In a post on X, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence 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.”

So far in April, Taiwan has detected Chinese military aircraft 57 times and naval vessels 57 times. 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.

As per the 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 9, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence said that it detected seven Chinese military aircraft and five naval vessels around the nation between 6 am (local time) on Monday to 6 am (local time) on Tuesday.

In a post on X, Taiwan’s MND stated, “7 PLA aircraft and 5 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 4 of the aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan’s SW and eastern ADIZ.”