Taiwan detects 10 Chinese military aircraft, 6 naval ships around nation

TAIPEI: The Ministry of National Defence of Taiwan has detected 10 Chinese military aircraft and six naval vessels around Taiwan between 6 a.m. on Thursday (Feb. 29) and 6 a.m. on Friday (March 1), according to Taiwan News.

According to the MND, one aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait median line, of the 10 People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft.

Meanwhile, another PLA aircraft was detected in the southwest corner of Taiwan's Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ), while one PLA helicopter entered the southeast sector of the ADIZ, reported Taiwan News.

In retaliation, Taiwan also sent aircraft and naval vessels and deployed air defence missile systems to monitor the PLA activity.

Since September 2020, China has increased its use of grey zone tactics by incrementally increasing the number of military aircraft and naval ships operating around Taiwan.

Grey 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," according to Taiwan News.

Last month, Taiwan tracked Chinese military aircraft 263 times and naval ships 156 times.