A Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Monday, China’s 16th incursion this month.
According to a Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense post on Twitter, a People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Y-8 EW flew into the southwest corner of the ADIZ on Monday morning. In response, Taiwan sent aircraft, broadcast radio warnings, and deployed air defense missile systems to track the plane.
The Defense Ministry also reported on Sunday that two PLAAF aircraft (Y-8 ASW and Y-8 EW) again entered the southwestern sector of Taiwan’s ADIZ later the same day, prompting another response from the Taiwanese Air Force.
According to Ministry of National Defense data, PLAAF planes— mostly slow-flying Y-8s— were recorded entering Taiwan’s ADIZ 22 times in April, 18 times in March, 17 times in February, and 27 times in January. An ADIZ is a part of a country’s air space where any detected aircraft is identified and located in the interest of national security.
Sending planes into Taiwan’s ADIZ is part of China’s “gray zone” tactics, efforts intended to exhaust the island’s military and morale and achieve other security objectives without using a direct and sizable use of force.