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 Thursday (Feb. 8) and 6 a.m. on Friday (Feb. 9).

Of the seven People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, three entered the southwest corner of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ), according to the MND. No PLA aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait median line during that time.

In addition, the MND tracked two Chinese balloons on Thursday, the first appearing 144 km (78 NM) northwest of Pingtung at 12:45 p.m. and the second 81 km (44 NM) northwest of Taichung at 6:35 p.m. The first balloon disappeared at 1:17 p.m. and the second traveled over Taiwan and disappeared at 8:22 p.m.

So far this month, Taiwan has tracked Chinese military aircraft 68 times and naval ships 39 times. 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)