TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of National Defense (MND) tracked seven Chinese military aircraft and five naval vessels around Taiwan between 6 a.m. on Tuesday (Jan. 23) and 6 a.m. on Wednesday (Jan. 24).

In response, Taiwan sent aircraft and naval ships and deployed air defense missile systems 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.

Meanwhile, two Chinese balloons were also tracked on Tuesday. The first entered the ADIZ 167 km (90 NM) west of Keelung, traveled over northern Taiwan, and disappeared at 5:42 p.m. on Tuesday. The second entered the ADIZ 209 km (113 NM) west of Pingtung and disappeared at 11:04 p.m. on Tuesday.

So far this month, Taiwan has tracked 205 Chinese military aircraft and 100 naval ships. 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.”



(MND image)