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.
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