At least 26 Chinese military aircraft and four warships were monitored by Taiwan’s Defense Ministry from Friday to Saturday, Taiwan News reported on Sunday.
According to the MND, 15 of the 26 People’s Liberation Army aircraft were seen in the Taiwan Air Defense Identification Area.
Four Chengdu J-10 fighters, four Shenyang J-16 fighters, CH-4 reconnaissance drones and BZK-005 Harbin reconnaissance drones crossed the road center of the Taiwan Strait.
Another reconnaissance drone from Harbin flew over the southern edge of Taiwan’s ADIZ.
The southwest corner of the ADIZ saw the tracking of two Shenyang J-16 fighters, a Shaanxi Y-8 anti-submarine warfare aircraft and a BZK-007 reconnaissance drone. A Harbin Z-9 anti-submarine helicopter also appeared southeast of Taiwan’s identification zone, Taiwan News reported.
Taiwan retaliated by sending land-based aircraft, naval vessels and missiles to monitor PLA planes and ships.
Beijing has sent 67 warships and 266 military aircraft to Taiwan this month.
China has increased its use of gray zone strategies since September 2020 by regularly flying aircraft inside Taiwan’s ADIZ.
Gray zone tactics are defined as “an attempt or series of efforts beyond containment and steady state assurance to seek to achieve its security objectives without resorting to direct and substantial power,” Taiwan News reported. Chinese military ships, fishing boats and dredgers regularly pass through Taiwan’s waters using what military analysts describe as gray zone tactics – in part a campaign of intimidation. threats, partly resource exploitation – to maintain the vigilance of the Taiwanese people and government.
The Chinese Communist Party government bombed Matsu for decades after the Kuomintang government’s failed retreat to Taiwan in 1949 and took control of several outer islands much closer to China than Taiwan.
Notably, Japan controls the islands, while China continues to claim them.
According to history and international law, the islands are closely tied to Japanese territory, the Japanese government claims.