Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Putting up relentless pressure on Taiwan to either merge itself with the mainland or face war, China on Wednesday sent several military aircraft and naval vessels near the democratically-run island republic that Beijing routinely claims as its territory.
The Taiwan Ministry of National Defense (MND) reportedly tracked 15 Chinese military aircraft and 10 naval vessels next to Taiwanese waters, between 6 am on Tuesday (March 19) and 6 am on Wednesday (March 20), Taiwan News reported.
Among the 15 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, six entered the southwest corner of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ), the MND said.
However, no PLA aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait median line at that time.
Responding to the intimidation, Taiwan also sent aircraft and naval ships and deployed air defense missile systems to monitor the PLA activity.
This month, Taiwan tracked Chinese military aircraft 209 times and naval vessels 133 times.
Since September 2020, China has increased its use of gray zone tactics by gradually increasing the number of military aircraft and naval ships operating around Taiwan, according to Taiwan News.
Gray zone tactics are “an effort or series of efforts beyond steady-state deterrence and assurance that attempts to achieve one’s security objectives without resorting to direct and sizable use of force.”
Earlier, Taiwan’s MND reported the tracking of ten Chinese naval vessels and nine military aircraft in the vicinity of Taiwan between 6 am on Monday and 6 am on Tuesday.
Among the nine PLA aircraft, one Chinese drone breached Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) in the southwest, while a PLA helicopter was monitored in the southeast sector of the ADIZ.
In a similar incident reported by the MND, nine Chinese military aircraft and five naval ships were tracked around Taiwan from 6 am on Sunday (March 17) to the same time on Monday (March 18).
Out of nine People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, one Chinese drone crossed the Taiwan Strait median line and entered the southwest corner of the country’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ), the MND stated.