Taiwan detected 11 Chinese balloons near the island in a 24-hour period, the defence ministry said Friday.
The balloons were spotted along with five Chinese aircraft and six warships in the 24 hours to 6:00 am (2200 GMT on Thursday), the ministry said in its daily report.
It was the highest number of balloons recorded, according to an AFP tally of the data dating back to December 2023.
China insists democratic Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring the island under its control.
Beijing has increased the deployment of fighter jets and naval vessels around Taiwan in recent years to press its claim of sovereignty, which Taipei rejects.
The surge in balloons comes after Taiwan recorded 45 Chinese aircraft near the island in a 24-hour period last week, which was the highest number this year.
In the same week, Taipei also condemned China for holding “live-fire” drills off the island’s south.
Beijing hit back, accusing Taiwan of “pure hype” over what it called “routine training”.
The top US military commander in the Indo-Pacific told a defence forum last month that the frequency of China’s exercises could be used to cover up a real attack.
In response to those comments, China’s defence ministry reiterated that Beijing would not renounce the use of force to achieve unification.
Content retrieved from: https://www.firstpost.com/world/taiwan-detects-11-chinese-balloons-near-the-island-in-24-hours-defence-ministry-13869390.html.
