Taiwan says it detected 14 Chinese military aircraft, 8 naval vessels around nation

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

According to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence, 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).

According to Taiwan News, in response, Taiwan sent aircraft and naval ships and deployed air defence missile systems to monitor PLA activity.

In an official post on X, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence stated, “14 PLA aircraft and 8 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. today. 9 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.”

On April 11, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence said it detected 14 Chinese military aircraft, and six naval vessels encircling the nation, as per Taiwan News.

In a post on X, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence (MND) stated, “14 PLA aircraft and 6 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 am. (UTC+8) today. 6 of the aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan’s SW and eastern ADIZ.”

So far this month, Taiwan has tracked Chinese military aircraft 85 times and naval vessels 71 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 resorting to direct and sizable use of force.”