TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The defense ministry detected six Chinese naval vessels around Taiwan between 6 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Unusually, no aircraft were reported to have joined the ships. In response, Taiwan sent aircraft and naval ships and deployed coastal-based missile systems to monitor the Chinese activity.

So far this month, Taiwan has tracked Chinese military aircraft 208 times and ships 95 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. 

CSIS defines gray zone tactics 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.”