TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of National Defense (MND) tracked 26 Chinese military aircraft and seven naval vessels around Taiwan between 6 a.m. on Friday (June 30) and 6 a.m. Saturday (July 1).

Twelve of the detected aircraft (including four SU-30s, two J-10s, two J-16s, a BZK-005 UAV RECCE, a Y-8 ASW and two H-6s) crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait or entered Taiwan’s southwest and southeast ADIZ. In response, Taiwan sent aircraft, naval ships, and used land-based missile systems to monitor PLA activity.

In June, China dispatched 363 military aircraft and 155 naval ships around Taiwan.

Since September 2020, Beijing has increasingly employed the use of "gray zone tactics" in the form of deployments of military aircraft and naval vessels over the median line and inside Taiwan's ADIZ.

According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, 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."



Flight paths of Chinese aircraft. (MND photo)