Taiwan Monitors Chinese Military Aircraft and Naval Vessels Near Its Borders
Taipei [Taiwan], June 24: The Ministry of National Defence (MND) reported that it detected 23 Chinese military aircraft and seven naval vessels around Taiwan between 6 am on Sunday and 6 am on Monday. Of the 23 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, 19 crossed the Taiwan Strait median line in the northern, southwestern, and eastern sectors of Taiwan’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ).
In response, Taiwan sent aircraft and naval ships and deployed coastal-based missile systems to monitor the PLA activity. On June 23, the MND tracked 15 Chinese military aircraft and six naval vessels encircling Taiwan. So far this month, Taiwan has tracked Chinese military aircraft 324 times and naval/coast guard vessels 190 times.
Since September 2020, China has increased its use of gray zone tactics, which are efforts to achieve security objectives without direct and sizable use of force. This latest incident adds to a series of similar provocations by China in recent months, including regular air and naval incursions into Taiwan’s ADIZ.
China continues to assert its sovereignty over Taiwan, considering it a part of its territory and insisting on eventual reunification, by force if necessary. In a recent incident, a Chinese rocket carrying a satellite passed over south Taiwan on Saturday. The rocket was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in China’s Sichuan at 3 pm. Taiwan’s MND closely monitored the launch and tracked real-time information through intelligence and surveillance systems, alerting the public about the imminent launch on Friday.
