Two Hot Air Balloons Allegedly Belonging To China Reportedly Detected In Taiwan Strait

Illustration of the Taiwan Strait. (Wikimedia Commons/BreakdownDiode)

JAKARTA - Two hot air balloons allegedly belonging to China flew across the sensitive Taiwan Strait on Sunday despite remaining north of Taiwan, Taiwan's Ministry of Defense said on Monday.

This is the second time Taipei has reported the presence of these balloons near their territory.

Taiwan's Defense Ministry said the two balloons were detected at 9:03 a.m. and 14:43 p.m. local time, after crossing the northeastern median 110 nautical miles (204 km) of the port of Keelung in northern Taiwan.

The balloons flew at an altitude of about 27,000 feet (3,230 meters), heading east before disappearing at 09.36 and 16.35, the ministry added.

The ministry's initial assessment was that it was a weather balloon, a spokesman for the Sun Li-fang Foreign Ministry said.

Previously, Taiwan also reported a balloon crossing the Taiwan Strait on December 7, most likely a weather balloon, Taiwan's Ministry of Defense said at the time.

Taiwanese authorities said officials deliberately announced the detection of the balloon in the interest of transparency.

Separately, China's Ministry of Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Taiwan is known to be very alert to China's activities, both military and political, ahead of the presidential and parliamentary elections on January 13.

Taipei has warned Beijing's efforts to interfere in voting, so voters choose candidates China might like.

Meanwhile, the Bamboo Curtain country's potential to use balloons to spy became a global issue in February, when the United States shot down what it said was a Chinese reconnaissance balloon. However, according to Beijing, it is a civilian balloon that accidentally got lost.