Taiwan announced how it will handle the Chinese spy balloons appearing across the Taiwan Strait. The Asian island nation announced this new effort as more and more surveillance aircraft of Beijing are being spotted.
As of writing, the Taiwanese government is on high alert since it alleges that China will make drastic efforts to intervene in the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections, which are expected to start on January 13, 2024. On Wednesday, Dec. 20, Taiwan finally shared its plan for how it will handle Chinese surveillance balloons that are flying nearby. Here's what the defense ministry said.
Taiwan Announces How It'll Handle Chinese Spy Balloons
A supporter of the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) waves a Taiwanese flag during a rally outside the KMT headquarters ahead of the party's expected announcement of their 2024 presidential candidate in Taipei on May 17, 2023.
During a media conference, Sun Li-Fang, Taiwan's defense ministry spokesperson, told reporters that they had been spotting Chinese balloons near the island country from October 2022 to March 2023.
"Generally speaking most of the ones we have spotted so far are weather balloons," he explained via Yahoo News.
"They are from mainland China, and not necessarily from the People's Liberation Army," added the top Taiwanese defense ministry official.
He added that Taiwan will start handling these Chinese spy balloons based on their threat levels. However, he didn't clarify if they will take serious measures if the threat level is higher.
This December, the Taiwanese government claimed that it had spotted four Chinese surveillance balloons over the Taiwan Strait's sensitive areas. Officials said that afterward, these aircraft would cross the airspace to the north before vanishing.
Latest Chinese Spy Balloon Sightings in Taiwan
Security guard walk past the Chinese national flag at the Military Museum of Chinese People's Revolution on March 1, 2008 in Beijing, China. From March 1, the Military Museum of Chinese People's Revolution becomes the first national level museum which opens to the public for free in Beijing.
The Associated Press recently reported that two Chinese surveillance balloons were spotted flying over north of Taiwan on Monday, Dec. 18. It was the second time that the Taiwanese government identified China's surveillance aircraft.
The first one in December happened on Dec. 7, when a Chinese spy balloon crossed southwest of Keelung. These sightings a few months after the U.S. government shot down an allegedly Chinese spy balloon flying over the Atlantic Ocean.
Taiwan's officials are concerned about these surveillance balloons since it was recently reported that Chinese officials discussed how they should interfere with the upcoming Taiwanese elections.
Sources claimed that Wang Huning, the fourth-ranking leader of the Chinese Communist Party, attended a high-level meeting where he urged other Chinese officials to be more effective and discreet when disrupting Taiwan's presidential election.
Related Article: More Chinese Weather Balloons Appear Across Taiwan Strait as Taiwanese Presidential Election Nears
