Taiwan says it spotted six more Chinese balloons, one crossed island

TAIPEI – Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said it had detected six more Chinese balloons flying over the Taiwan Strait on Jan 21, one of which crossed the island, the latest in a spate of such balloons the ministry says it has seen over the past month and a half.

In a strongly worded statement earlier in January, the ministry

accused China of threatening aviation safety

and waging psychological warfare on the island’s people with the balloons, days before Taiwan’s Jan 13 elections.

China’s Defence Ministry, which in December 2023 declined to comment on the balloons, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. China claims Taiwan as its own territory, despite the strong objections of the government in Taipei.

The potential for China to use balloons for spying became a global issue in February 2023 when the United States

shot down what it said was a Chinese surveillance balloon.

Beijing said the balloon was a civilian craft that accidentally drifted astray.

The latest incident was revealed by the ministry on Jan 22 in its daily report on Chinese military activities over the past 24 hours. It said six balloons had flown over the strait’s sensitive median line on Jan 21. However, only one crossed Taiwan island, at its southern tip, according to a map the ministry provided.

The other five balloons flew to the north of Taiwan but did not fly over land, the ministry said.

The balloons all headed east before vanishing, it added.

The Taiwan Strait’s median line previously served as an unofficial barrier between Taiwan and China, but Chinese fighter jets, drones and now balloons regularly fly over it.

China says it does not recognise the existence of the median line. REUTERS