TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) tracked 23 Chinese military aircraft and five naval vessels around the country between 6 a.m. Thursday (Sept. 28) and 6 a.m. Friday (Sept. 29).
The defense ministry said 23 People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) military aircraft and five People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessels were detected. Four planes entered the southwest sector of Taiwan's Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).
Of the four aircraft, two were twin-engine jet bomber Xian H-6s, and the other two were Harbin Z-9 anti-submarine warfare aircraft. The defense ministry said, “Armed Forces have monitored the situation and tasked CAP (combat air patrol) aircraft, Navy vessels, and land-based missile systems to respond to these activities.”
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 CSIS, 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 paths of Chinese planes. (MND photo)