TAIPEI (TVBS News) — With Taiwan's presidential election around the corner, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) announced Tuesday (Jan. 2) that it had tracked two Chinese balloons, with one directly overflying Taiwan's main island.
According to the MND, at 9:31 p.m. and 10:40 p.m. the previous night, one balloon each was detected crossing the Taiwan Strait median line. One was approximately 55 nautical miles northwest of Chiayi, and the other about 71 nautical miles northwest of Keelung. Both balloons, at altitudes of approximately 30,000 and 32,000 feet, drifted northeast and disappeared at 11:43 p.m. and 12:43 a.m. Tuesday, respectively.
The MND also stated that in the last 24 hours preceding 6 a.m. the previous day, they picked up a total of four Chinese military aircraft and three naval vessels in persistent activity around the Taiwan Strait. Among them, one military plane made an incursion into the southwest air zone.
They also detected a Shaanxi KJ-500, an early warning aircraft entering Taiwan's southwest Air Defense Identification Zone from the Chinese coastal area.
The Taiwanese MND highlighted that the army, utilizing mission aircraft, naval vessels, and shoreline missile systems, is vigilantly monitoring and responding to the situation.