(Taipei) The Taiwanese Defense Ministry said on Sunday it had detected eight Chinese balloons around Taiwan for the second consecutive day, including five having flown directly over the island.
The aircraft were all spotted on Saturday, the Lunar New Year celebrated on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, at an altitude between 3,600 and 10,700 m, according to the same source.
Five of the balloons flew over the island and another grazed its northern tip, a map published by the ministry shows.
Beijing considers the democratic and autonomous island of Taiwan as part of its territory and has never renounced using force to regain control.
In recent years, China has increased its military pressure and deployed combat planes and warships almost daily around the island, which is increasingly being flown over by balloons.
A total of eight balloons were also detected Friday, the highest number since the Defense Department began regularly publishing data on sightings of such aircraft in December.
In February 2023, the Taiwanese army alerted aviation authorities after detecting a balloon flying over Taiwan’s airspace, but did not communicate either the origin of the aircraft or its exact location.
The latest balloon sightings come as the Taiwanese presidential election was won in January by Lai Ching-te of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), seen by Beijing as a “separatist” party.
Ahead of the vote, Beijing had warned that a victory for Mr. Lai would lead Taiwan to “war” and “decline”.
Since the January 13 election, the largest incursions seen have been those of 33 Chinese fighter jets, many of them detected twice in January around Taiwan.
Eight days after the presidential election, the Taiwanese Defense had spotted six balloons, then a record for these aircraft.
One hundred and three Beijing combat planes were spotted in the surrounding skies in September in the space of 24 hours.