TAIPEI, Taiwan— Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said it sighted a Chinese military military surveillance balloon in the Taiwan Strait, in addition to a large-scale deployment of Beijing’s military planes and ships.
The balloon passed southwest of the port city of Keelung, in the north of the island, on Thursday night and continued moving in an easterly direction before disappearing, possibly in the Pacific Ocean, the Ministry explained.
There appeared to be some uncertainty about whether the balloon was operated by the People’s Liberation Army, the military branch of China’s ruling Communist Party. The ministry referred to it as the “PLA surveillance balloon” and the “PRC balloon,” using the acronym for the People’s Republic of China, China’s official name.
A Ministry of Defense spokesperson said they had no additional information.
Background of tensions between China and Taiwan
The incident occurred just over a month before Taiwan holds elections for president and legislature and raises questions about possible Chinese efforts to influence the vote.
China’s Defense Ministry had no comment and Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said he was “not aware of the situation and it is not a diplomatic issue.”
China has long blurred the lines between military and civilian roles, including in the South China Sea, where it operates a huge maritime militia — ostensibly civilian fishing vessels acting under government orders to assert Beijing’s territorial claims.
Taiwan has threatened to shoot down such balloons, but its Defense Ministry did not say what action, if any, was taken. The balloon was monitored flying at an altitude of approximately 6,400 meters (21,000 feet).
In addition, 26 Chinese military aircraft and 10 Chinese Navy ships were detected in the 24 hours prior to 6:00 a.m. on Friday, he added. Of the planes, 15 crossed the median line that acts as an unofficial division between both sides, which Beijing does not recognize. Some also entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, outside the island’s airspace.
The Taiwanese military monitored the situation with fighter jets, ships and ground-based missile systems, according to the ministry.
Such incursions occur regularly as a reminder of China’s threat that it will use force to annex the self-governed island it considers part of its territory, eroding Taiwan’s military capabilities and affecting the morale of its armed forces and population. , which mostly remains indifferent to Chinese actions.
Taiwan relies on the US
These Chinese missions have led Taiwan to increase its purchase of aircraft from the United States, its main ally, and to revitalize its own defense industry, including submarine production.
Beijing strongly protests all contacts between the island and the United States, but its aggressive diplomacy has helped build strong bipartisan support for Taipei in Washington.
US President Joe Biden promised stricter rules for tracking, monitoring and potentially shooting down unknown aerial objects following the weeks-long episode sparked by the discovery of an alleged Chinese spy balloon that roamed much of the country in early anus.
The United States considered the balloon a military ship and shot it down with a missile. He recovered what he said was sophisticated surveillance equipment. China responded with annoyance, claiming it was just a weather balloon that had veered off course and calling its shootdown an overreaction.
Source: AP
