3 Chinese Balloons Spotted Over Taiwan Strait Ahead Of Jan 13 Polls

The Defence Ministry of Taiwan reported spotting three more Chinese spy balloons over Taiwan Strait, ahead of the January 13 elections.

After the recent complaints from Taiwan’s defence ministry against Chinese spy balloons, the ministry once again detected three more of them flying over the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, reported Reuters

The Taiwanese ministry, in a statement, had earlier accused China of threatening aviation safety and undertaking psychological warfare on the people living on the island with their spy balloons, a few days ahead of the critical Taiwanese elections scheduled for January 13, according to Reuters.

The defence ministry of China did not respond to these complaints and had previously declined to comment on the balloons last month as well.

According to Reuters, the Chinese spy balloons became a global cause of concern last February when one of them was shot down in the United States, calling it a Chinese surveillance balloon. China, however, called it a civilian craft that would have accidentally drifted astray into American airspace.

Due to Chinese military and political activities, Taiwan is on high alert ahead of its presidential and parliamentary elections that are to be held on Saturday, January 13. Taiwan’s statement also revealed that China has been exerting military and economic pressure with the intention of interfering in the upcoming elections, reported Reuters.

Taiwan’s defence ministry has reported numerous cases of Chinese balloons flying over the Taiwan Strait, with some being spotted near its major air bases on the island that China views as its own territory. 

As per the daily report issued by the ministry on Monday, Taiwan reported that there were three balloons that had flown over the strait’s sensitive median line, and one of them even crossed the Taiwan island, right at its southern tip, before vanishing in the east, as per Reuters.

Hsiao Bi-khim, vice presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), asked China to stop harassing Taiwan. Jaw Shaw-kong, the vice presidential candidate of Taiwan’s largest opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT) also called out China to stop sending warships and aircrafts into the strait, reported Reuters. 

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, on the other hand, reinstated that the strait’s median line “does not exist” and that Taiwan’s DPP is “hyping up the threat from the mainland as the election approaches.”