TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of National Defense (MND) tracked six Chinese military aircraft and five ships around Taiwan by 6 a.m. on Saturday (Sept. 9).

In response, Taiwan monitored the situation by sending aircraft and naval ships and used land-based missiles to monitor the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) activity, according to the MND. No PLA aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait median line or entered the southwest corner of the country’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) during that time.

So far this month, Beijing has sent 21 military aircraft and 21 naval ship sorties around Taiwan. 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.”