TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of National Defense tracked 24 Chinese military aircraft and seven naval vessels around Taiwan between 6 a.m. on Thursday and 6 a.m. on Friday.

Eighteen of the 24 People’s Liberation Army aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait median line in the nation’s northern, southwestern, and eastern air defense identification zone, according to the MND. The MND said on Thursday morning that 22 of the PLA aircraft carried out “joint combat readiness patrols” around Taiwan with PLA naval ships in the first such drills this year. 

In response, Taiwan sent aircraft and naval ships and deployed coastal-based missile systems to monitor PLA activity. 

So far this month, Taiwan has tracked Chinese military aircraft 27 times and naval ships 14 times. Since September 2020, China has increased its use of gray zone tactics by incrementally increasing the number of military aircraft and naval vessels 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.”