TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of National Defense tracked six Chinese military craft, five naval ships, and one official ship around Taiwan between 6 a.m. on Tuesday and the same time Wednesday. 

The defense ministry reported four out of six sorties entered the southwestern and eastern parts of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, or ADIZ. In response, Taiwan deployed aircraft, naval ships, and coastal-based missile systems to monitor Chinese activity.

So far this month, the defense ministry has tracked Chinese military aircraft 134 times and ships 179 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.”