TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) said there were a further 21 Chinese military aircraft that flew into Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Saturday morning (April 20). 

Between 6 a.m. on Friday (April 19) and Saturday, eight People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft and eight vessels were detected around Taiwan. Of the eight aircraft, three crossed the Taiwan Strait median line in the southwest sector of the country’s ADIZ, according to the MND. 

However, at 11.28 a.m. the defense ministry posted that after 8.15 a.m. an additional 21 PLA aircraft, including J-16, Y-8, and drones. It added that 17 of the planes entered the northern, central and southwestern ADIZ and joined up with PLA vessels on combat control.

In response, Taiwan sent aircraft and naval ships and deployed air defense missile systems to monitor the PLA activity. 

According to the latest updated figures, so far this month Taiwan has tracked Chinese military aircraft 193 times and naval vessels 118 times. Since September 2020, China has increased its use of gray zone tactics by incrementally increasing the number of military aircraft and naval ships 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.”