TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of National Defense (MND) tracked five Chinese naval vessels and four military aircraft around Taiwan between 6 a.m. on Thursday (March 28) and 6 a.m. on Friday (March 29). 

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. 

So far this month, Taiwan has tracked Chinese military aircraft 347 times and naval vessels 191 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.”