Two suspected Chinese weather balloons on Sunday flew across the Taiwan Strait, but stayed well to the north of Taiwan, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, the second time this month they have been reported nearby.
The potential for China to use balloons for spying became a global issue in February when the US shot down what it said was a Chinese surveillance balloon, but what China said was a civilian craft that accidentally drifted astray.
Taiwan is on high alert for Chinese activities, both military and political, ahead of the Jan. 13 presidential and legislative elections. Taipei has warned of Beijing’s efforts to interfere in the ballots to get voters to pick candidates China would prefer.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of National Defense
The two balloons were detected at 9:03am and 2:43pm after crossing the Strait’s median line 110 nautical miles (204km) northwest of Keelung, the ministry said.
The balloons flew at an altitude of about 3,230m, headed east and disappeared at 9:36am and 4:35pm respectively, it said.
The ministry’s initial judgement is that they were weather balloons, Ministry of National Defense spokesman Major General Sun Li-fang (孫立方) said.
The Chinese Ministry of National Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The earlier balloon, which Taiwan reported crossing the Taiwan Strait on Dec. 7, was most likely also a weather platform, the defense ministry said at the time, adding that officials had announced its detection in the interests of transparency.
Separately, the legislature yesterday passed an amendment to the Military Camps Safety Maintenance Act (軍事營區安全維護條例) which stipulates that when drones or uncrewed aerial objects fly over military installations and pose a risk to national defense, military facilities or classified information, military personnel would be allowed to use requisite instruments or weapons to shoot them down when necessary.
The defense ministry said that the amendment provides a legal basis for maintaining security in military facilities, which would help ensure national security, as well as the rights and interests of the public.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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