Taiwan detects eight Chinese balloons for second straight day

SpaceWar.com reports: “Eight Chinese balloons were detected around Taiwan for the second straight day, with five flying directly over the island, Taipei’s defence ministry said Sunday.

The ministry said the balloons were spotted on Saturday, the first day of the Lunar New Year holiday, at an altitude of 12,000 to 35,000 feet.

Five of the balloons flew directly over the island, and one grazed its northern tip, according to a map released by the ministry.

China claims democratic Taiwan as its own territory and has not renounced the use of force to bring the self-ruled island under its control.

Beijing has ramped up military pressure in recent years, and deploys warplanes and naval vessels around the island on a nearly daily basis, with balloons also increasingly flying over the island.

A batch of eight balloons were also detected on Friday, the highest number since the defence ministry started regularly releasing data on balloon sightings in December…”

The post Taiwan detects eight Chinese balloons for second straight day appeared first on JVIM.