The Ministry of National Defense (MND) monitored the movements of six Chinese naval vessels and four military aircraft near Taiwan from 6 a.m. on Saturday (March 30) to 6 am on Sunday (March 31).
According to the Ministry of National Defense (MND), Taiwan promptly dispatched aircraft and naval vessels, as well as deployed air defense missile systems, in response to the activity of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). It is worth noting that no PLA aircraft violated the Taiwan Strait median line or entered the southwest corner of the country’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) during this period.
Up to this point in the current month, Taiwan has monitored Chinese military aircraft on 359 occasions and naval vessels on 204 occasions. Starting from September 2020, China has escalated its deployment of gray zone tactics by gradually raising the presence of military aircraft and naval ships in the vicinity of Taiwan.
The Taiwan military strongly criticized the use of drones by Chinese netizens to film the outlying island of Erdan near Kinmen on Saturday. Speculations online indicated that unmanned aerial vehicles had recorded military activities on the Taiwanese-held island, visible from the Chinese city of Xiamen. The Kinmen Defence Command mentioned that local authorities could respond accordingly depending on the level of threat posed by the drones. The military held some Chinese netizens accountable for their provocative actions, warning that such behaviour could potentially lead to a dangerous situation.
