TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) tracked eight Chinese military aircraft and five naval vessels around the country between 6 a.m. on Sunday (June 4) and 6 a.m. on Monday (June 5).

At 9 a.m. on Monday, the MND said that eight People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) military aircraft and five People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessels had been tracked around Taiwan. Of the aircraft, one entered the southwest section of Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ).

The aircraft tracked in the ADIZ was a Kamov Ka-28 anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopter. The MND said it monitored the situation and responded by scrambling combat patrol aircraft, dispatching naval vessels, and deploying land-based air defense missile systems.

Since September 2020, Beijing has increasingly employed the use of "gray zone tactics" in the form of deployments of military aircraft and naval vessels over the median line and inside Taiwan's ADIZ. According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, 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 resorting to direct and sizable use of force.”

Flight path of Ka-28 ASW helicopter in ADIZ. (MND image)