The Ministry of National Defense (MND) detailed “gray zone” tactics employed by China to conduct reconnaissance around the Republic of China (Taiwan) and its outlying islands in a report to the Legislature Wednesday, underscoring the government’s request for an increase in the national defense budget to facilitate the rollout of more effective countermeasures.

The military has regularly reported sightings of Chinese drones over the frontline islands of Kinmen and Matsu, both of which are close to the southeastern coast of China, as well as increases in such flights in the wake of a visit to Taipei on Aug.2-3, by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which was strongly condemned by Beijing.

In addition to drones, China has also used civilian aircraft, weather balloons, recreational fishing boats and marine research vessels for military purposes around Taiwan, the MND said in the report about the military capabilities of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

The report, mandated by the Legislature to accompany the ministry’s annual budget request, included a new chapter titled “non-military operations” that detailed how the PRC employs “gray zone” warfare tactics to increase pressure on Taiwan’s military.

The PRC has been using such tactics to gather intelligence on Taiwan’s troop deployments in the outer islands, test the military’s responses to such incursions and increase the pressure on Taiwan’s coastguard forces, the MND said.

Amid China’s increasingly coercive actions, the MND plans to install anti-drone defense systems at 45 sites, including harbors, airports, defense outposts in remote mountainous areas, and missile launch facilities across Taiwan proper and on the frontline outlying islands, to disrupt or neutralize hostile drones and secure the nation’s airspace.

A budget of about NT$4.3 billion (US$141 million) for the five-year project, lasting from 2022-2026, was approved by the Legislature last year under the MND budget for fiscal year 2022.

The legislature is set to review the MND’s planned anti-drone defense systems and decide whether to revise the budget for them, the construction of which will begin next year.

According to an MND statement in May, the anti-drone defense systems are designed by Taiwan’s National Chung Shan Institute of Science & Technology (NCSIST) and are capable of remotely detecting, tracking, and classifying small drones, at which point a decision can be taken to disrupt their activities.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel