Six Chinese balloons were detected near the nation, the Ministry of National Defense said today.
The six balloons were spotted in the 24 hours ending at 6am today, the ministry said, giving one of its highest daily tallies of the devices.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of National Defense
Along with the balloons, nine Chinese military aircraft, six warships and two official ships were detected near Taiwan over the same period.
The balloons were spotted at an altitude of 16,000 to 20,000 feet, and one of them directly flew over the main island, according to an illustration released by the ministry.
Chinese balloons have been regularly spotted over waters near Taiwan in the past few months, but today's figure is one of the highest recorded, according to an AFP tally of military data.
Last year, Taiwan detected a record of eight Chinese balloons less than a month after the presidential elections won by the Democratic Progressive Party's William Lai (賴清德).
Taiwan has described the Chinese balloons as a form of "gray zone" harassment, a tactic that falls short of an act of war, but can exhaust Taipei's armed forces.
Balloons from China became a politically fraught topic in early 2023, when the US shot down what it called a spy balloon.
The huge balloon, which carried a large payload of electronics, flew over sensitive US military installations and prompted concerns that Beijing was scooping up vital intelligence.
Beijing has said it was a civilian airship blown off-course.
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry
RSS