TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) on Tuesday (Jan. 2) detected four Chinese military aircraft and three naval vessels operating near the Taiwan Strait, days before the presidential election.
The MND also tracked two Chinese balloons, one of which entered Taiwan's western airspace about 55 nautical miles northwest of Chiayi, while another was spotted around 71 nautical miles northwest of Keelung.
After crossing the median line, the balloons disappeared from radar at 11:43 p.m. Monday and 12:43 a.m. Tuesday.
According to the MND's flight track map, one balloon floated over Taiwan from west to east before disappearing over the Pacific Ocean. Another aircraft named "Air Police 500" flew into Taiwan's southwestern air defense identification zone (ADIZ) from China's coastal airspace.
Shu Hsiao-huang, the deputy researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said these balloons were likely used for collecting meteorological data and were of different sizes and types compared to the Chinese spy balloons that flew over the U.S. last year.
Shu inferred these floating balloons might have been released by an unknown Chinese entity, indicating Taiwan had previously found balloons released by China for weather research.
He emphasized the importance of promptly disclosing the movements of Chinese balloons to raise the public's awareness regarding safety measures and counter potential preemptive messaging from China.
Currently, the national military strictly monitors the situation and has developed a responsive plan, according to the MND.