Almost in tandem, Russia and China have expanded their hostilities with Taiwan and Ukraine, respectively, to allies of each. Russia sent fighter aircraft into the territory of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which is supplying weapons and intelligence to help Ukraine fend off Russia’s full-scale invasion.At sea and in the sky, China is moving to tighten its grip in areas around Taiwan, the self-governing island China claims as its own, with low-intensity intimidation.
The incidents that have become frequent in recent weeks fall under the category of “gray zone” activity, in which countries take action against enemies because the low-intensity attacks are unlikely to attract military retaliation from the targeted countries.
Both Beijing and Moscow have used gray zone tactics for years. Russia has employed methods even before its first invasion of Ukraine in 2014 and its second full-scale one that began in 2022.
