The Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense tracked 33 Chinese military aircraft and six naval vessels around Taiwan between 6 a.m. (GMT +8) on Wednesday (Jan. 31) and 6 a.m. on Thursday (Feb. 1), Report informs via Taiwan News.
Of the 33 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, eight crossed the Taiwan Strait median line, according to the Taiwanese ministry. Meanwhile, six PLA aircraft entered the southwest corner of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ), while three others were tracked in the northeast ADIZ.
In response, Taiwan sent aircraft and naval ships and deployed air defense missile systems to monitor the PLA activity.
Last month, the island's ministry tracked 331 Chinese military aircraft and 142 naval ships. Since September 2020, China has increased its use of gray zone tactics by incrementally increasing the number of military aircraft and naval ships operating around Taiwan.