TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of National Defense (MND) tracked nine Chinese military aircraft and four naval vessels around Taiwan between 6 a.m. on Monday (Jan. 29) and 6 a.m. on Tuesday (Jan. 30).

In response, Taiwan sent aircraft and naval ships and deployed air defense missile systems to monitor the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, according to the MND. No PLA aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait median line during that time.

Meanwhile, one Chinese balloon was tracked crossing the Taiwan Strait median line on Monday at 3:09 p.m. 139 km (75 NM) northwest of Keelung. It traveled east and disappeared at 3:10 p.m.

So far this month, Taiwan has tracked 291 Chinese military aircraft and 132 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)