PLA Pullback: 4 Sorties June 7 — 9 PLAN Vessels + 7 Official Ships (Official Ships Triple from Jun 6); Air De-Escalation, Maritime Surge Pattern

Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense detected 4 PLA aircraft sorties in the 24-hour window ending at 06:00 local time (UTC+8) on June 7, 2026 — an 82% de-escalation from June 6's 22-sortie surge. Nine PLAN vessels and 7 official ships operated around Taiwan — the official ship count more than tripled from 2 on June 6 to 7 on June 7, the highest official ship count since May 29 (4 official ships). The PLAN vessel count rose slightly from 8 to 9. This demonstrates the PLA's established strategy of offsetting reduced air pressure with elevated maritime and official ship presence: as air sorties drop sharply, official Chinese ships surge — a gray-zone legal hybrid approach combining China Coast Guard and PLAN operations. The full June 2026 sortie sequence now reads: 7 (Jun 2) → 18 (Jun 3) → 32 RECORD (Jun 4) → 7 (Jun 5) → 22 (Jun 6) → 4 (Jun 7). ROC Armed Forces monitored the situation and deployed CAP aircraft, naval vessels, and coastal missile systems in response.