Current:Home > InvestAnother Chinese spy balloon? Taiwan says it's spotted one flying over the region -FinTechWorld
Another Chinese spy balloon? Taiwan says it's spotted one flying over the region
View
Date:2025-04-17 12:58:38
Taiwan's Defense Ministry says it spotted a Chinese surveillance balloon over the Taiwan Strait along with a large-scale movement of military aircraft and ships.
The ministry said the balloon passed southwest of the northern port city of Keelung on Thursday night, then continued east before disappearing, possibly into the Pacific Ocean.
There seemed to be some uncertainty about whether the balloon was operated by the People's Liberation Army, the military branch of China's ruling Communist Party. The ministry referred to it both as a "PLA surveillance balloon" and as "PRC's balloon," using the acronym for the People's Republic of China, China's official name.
A Defense Ministry spokesperson said it had no additional information.
The incident came just over a month before Taiwan is to hold elections for president and the legislature and raises questions about possible Chinese efforts to influence the vote.
China's Defense Ministry offered no comment, and Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said, "I'm not aware of the situation, and it is not a diplomatic question."
China has long blurred the lines between military and civilian functions, including in the South China Sea, where it operates a huge maritime militia - ostensibly civilian fishing boats that act under government orders to assert Beijing's territorial claims.
Taiwan has threatened to shoot down such balloons, but the ministry did not say what, if any, action was taken. It said the balloon was flying at an altitude of approximately 21,000 feet.
It also said 26 Chinese military aircraft and 10 navy ships were detected in the 24 hours before 6 a.m. Friday. Fifteen of the aircraft crossed the median line that is an unofficial divider between the sides, but which Beijing refuses to recognize, it said. Some also entered Taiwan's self-declared air defense identification zone outside the island's airspace, which encompasses the 100-mile-wide Taiwan Strait.
Taiwan's military monitored the situation with combat aircraft, navy vessels and land-based missile systems, the ministry said.
Such incursions occur regularly as a means of advertising China's threat to use force to annex the self-governing island republic it considers its own territory, wear down Taiwan's military capabilities, and impact morale among the armed forces and the public, who remain largely ambivalent to China's actions.
The Chinese missions have also prompted Taiwan to increase its purchases of aircraft from the United States, its chief ally, and strengthen its own defense industry, including producing submarines.
Beijing strongly protests all official contacts between the U.S. and Taiwan, but Taipei's aggressive diplomacy has helped build strong bipartisan support for it on Capitol Hill.
President Biden vowed sharper rules to track, monitor and potentially shoot down unknown aerial objects after a three-week high-stakes drama sparked by the discovery of a suspected Chinese spy balloon transiting much of the United States early in the year.
The U.S. labeled the balloon a military craft and shot it down with a missile. It recovered what it said was sophisticated surveillance equipment. China responded angrily, saying it was only a weather balloon that had blown off course and called its downing a major overreaction.
- In:
- Taiwan
- China
veryGood! (11525)
Related
- Trump suggestion that Egypt, Jordan absorb Palestinians from Gaza draws rejections, confusion
- The Republican leading the probe of Hunter Biden has his own shell company and complicated friends
- Taylor Lautner Shares Insight Into 2009 Breakup With Taylor Swift
- Endangered whale filmed swimming with beachgoers dies after stranding on sandbar
- All That You Wanted to Know About She’s All That
- 'Shameless': Reporters Without Borders rebukes X for claiming to support it
- Maren Morris Breaks Silence On Ryan Hurd Divorce
- CBS News poll analysis: Some Democrats don't want Biden to run again. Why not?
- Romantasy reigns on spicy BookTok: Recommendations from the internet’s favorite genre
- Q&A: Catherine Coleman Flowers Talks COP28, Rural Alabama, and the Path Toward a ‘Just Transition’
Ranking
- Scoot flight from Singapore to Wuhan turns back after 'technical issue' detected
- Federal prosecutors to retry ex-Louisville police officer in Breonna Taylor civil rights case
- Promising new gene therapies for sickle cell are out of reach in countries where they’re needed most
- Why '90s ads are unforgettable
- Pressure on a veteran and senator shows what’s next for those who oppose Trump
- Why your 401(k) is happy: Dow Jones reaches new record after Fed forecasts lower rates
- The 'physics' behind potential interest rate cuts
- Luke Combs responds to copyright lawsuit ordering woman who sold 18 tumblers pay him $250K
Recommendation
Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Triathlon
Putin questions Olympic rules for neutral Russian athletes at Paris Games
Man charged in the murder of Detroit synagogue president Samantha Woll
Fireworks on New Year's Eve send birds into a 'panicked state,' scientists discover
Mets have visions of grandeur, and a dynasty, with Juan Soto as major catalyst
Lawmaker’s suspension means a possible special election and more trouble for U.K. Conservatives
Zelenskyy makes first visit to US military headquarters in Germany, voices optimism about US aid
Naval officer jailed in Japan in deadly crash is transferred to US custody, his family says