TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of National Defense tracked 11 Chinese military aircraft and eight naval vessels around Taiwan between 6 a.m. Friday and 6 a.m. Saturday.
The MND said nine of the 11 People's Liberation Army aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait median line and entered the northern and southwestern air defense identification zone, or ADIZ. These included fighter jets and drones.
Taiwan sent combat patrol aircraft and naval vessels and deployed land-based air defense missile systems to monitor the PLA activity.
In addition, one Chinese balloon was detected moving east from the median line and entering Taiwan's west contiguous zone before disappearing at the boundary of Taiwan's territorial waters.
So far this month, the MND has tracked Chinese military aircraft 99 times and ships 49 times. Since September 2020, Beijing has increased its use of "gray zone tactics" by operating military aircraft and naval ships around Taiwan.
According to CSIS, gray zone tactics are “an effort or series of efforts beyond steady-state deterrence and assurance that attempts to achieve one’s security objectives without resorting to direct and sizable use of force."
