China is threatening aviation safety and waging psychological warfare on the Taiwanese public with a spate of balloons spotted near or over Taiwan ahead of Saturday’s presidential and legislative elections, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday.
The potential for China to use balloons for spying became a global issue in February last year when the US shot down what it said was a Chinese surveillance balloon.
China said the balloon was a civilian craft that accidentally drifted astray.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of National Defense
Taiwan is on high alert for Chinese military and political activity ahead of the elections.
Taipei said China is exerting military and economic pressure in an attempt to interfere in the vote.
Since last month the ministry has reported several instances of Chinese balloons flying over the Taiwan Strait.
It said this week that some balloons had floated over Taiwan proper near major air bases.
The balloons were a “serious threat” to international aviation safety given their flight paths, it said in a statement yesterday.
“We also express our condemnation of the Chinese communists’ disregard for aviation safety and its disregard for the safety of passengers on cross-strait and international flights,” it said.
The ministry said that its analysis was that the balloons were part of China’s “gray zone” tactics against Taiwan “in an attempt to use cognitive warfare to affect the morale of our people.”
Asked whether it has shot down any of the balloons or intends to do so, the ministry said it would respond according to the altitude and possible purpose of airborne objects and the level of threat they pose.
So far, it has taken appropriate measures according to the “rules on responding to contingencies during normal times,” it said.
Calls seeking comment to the Chinese Ministry of National Defence, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office and the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration were not answered yesterday outside of work hours.
China’s defence ministry last week declined to comment on the balloons at a monthly news conference.
In a separate statement yesterday, the Ministry of Defense said that during the previous 24 hours it had detected two more Chinese balloons, one of which briefly flew over the far northern tip of the nation.
It said it thought the balloons were mostly for weather monitoring, driven by prevailing winds at this time of year, and the comments on them being part of China’s “gray zone” activities are stronger than previous statements.
A Western security source, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media, said that China was sending a very simple pre-election message to Taiwan with the balloons.
“We are watching you closely and you can’t hide,” the source said.
Additional reporting by CNA
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
CHANGE OF MIND: The Chinese crew at first showed a willingness to cooperate, but later regretted that when the ship arrived at the port and refused to enter Togolese Republic-registered Chinese freighter Hong Tai (宏泰號) and its crew have been detained on suspicion of deliberately damaging a submarine cable connecting Taiwan proper and Penghu County, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement yesterday. The case would be subject to a “national security-level investigation” by the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office, it added. The administration said that it had been monitoring the ship since 7:10pm on Saturday when it appeared to be loitering in waters about 6 nautical miles (11km) northwest of Tainan’s Chiang Chun Fishing Port, adding that the ship’s location was about 0.5 nautical miles north of the No.
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
RSS