Taiwan tracks nine Chinese military aircraft, five naval ships; deploys missiles to monitor actions

According to the ministry, the aircrafts and vessels were tracked between 6 am on Tuesday (local time) to 6 am on Wednesday (local time).

In response, Taiwan sent aircraft and naval ships and deployed land-based missile systems to monitor the activity of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA), according to the Taiwan Ministry.

No PLA aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait median line or entered the country's air defence identification zone (ADIZ) during that time.

Earlier on Tuesday, Taiwan Defence Ministry tracked one Chinese balloon crossing the median line 154 km (83 NM) west of Keelung at 12:56 pm (local time). The balloon travelled northeast and disappeared at 2:59 pm (local time).

Taiwan has tracked 61 Chinese military aircraft and 30 naval ships so far in the month of February.

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, as reported by Taiwan News.

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."

On Monday, five Chinese military vessels and two aircraft were also detected around Taiwan between 6 am (local time) on Sunday and 6 am (local time) on Monday, Taiwan News reported.

On January 31, Taiwan's Marine Corps held a maritime drill at the Zuoying Naval Base in Kaohsiung, featuring a mine-laying ship and a domestically built assault boat that carried out maritime surveillance and combat operations to simulate defending against a Chinese invasion, Focus Taiwan reported.

The manoeuvres, which took place in waters around Zuoying Harbour, were designed to test the Marine Corps' ability to identify Chinese military movements quickly as well as their combat preparedness and capability.

During the exercise, the Taiwan Navy made an emergency departure from the harbour with a minelayer and an indigenous M109 assault boat and performed a variety of actions, including surveillance and the use of radar systems and drones to alert battleship forces to approaching hostile forces, reported Focus Taiwan.

Officers and troops on the M109 assault boat told CNA that during the drills, the M109 assault boat played an important part in the operation by bringing sea and land forces together to respond to China's "gray zone" actions near Taiwan while maintaining maritime safety. (ANI)