Taiwan's Ministry of Defense tracked four Chinese balloons as they crossed the Taiwan Strait on Monday and Tuesday. Three of the balloons passed over the center of the island of Taiwan and came very close to the air base in Cheongchuangang before disappearing.
Taiwan detected several Chinese balloons passing through the Taiwan Strait last month, but none of those balloons flew directly over Taiwan, as they did on Tuesday's flight.
Taiwan Ministry of Defense I refused They were given the opportunity to state for the record whether the new balloon was a monitoring platform, a weather balloon, or something else. The ministry said it “strictly monitors” all objects that intrude into Taiwan's airspace and “responds appropriately” to each intrusion.
Ministry of Defense spokesperson Major General Sun Lifang went on an adventure The four balloons are believed to have at least resembled the type of platforms used by meteorologists to collect atmospheric data. It seems unusual for a Chinese weather balloon to fly directly over Taiwan, and has never been done before.
The balloon sightings raised concerns in light of the fiasco in February 2023 when a Chinese reconnaissance balloon flew over the continental United States. get together intelligence From some military installations. President Joe Biden finally succumbed to growing public pressure and ridicule. ordered The balloon was shot down, but not until the mission was completed.
NBC News report In December, it announced an intelligence assessment that found Chinese reconnaissance balloons used U.S. internet service providers to send and receive data from Chinese air traffic controllers.
Security analysts say Chinese balloons, whether carrying surveillance equipment or not, are intended as a “gray zone” pressure tactic ahead of Taiwan's hotly contested presidential election scheduled for January 13. I am guessing that they are doing so. Taiwan will respond, but stop short of full-blown military provocation or acts of war.
Incumbent President Tsai Ing-wen has a limited term, so her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has fielded William Lai, known in Taiwan as Lai Ching-de, as vice president.
Mr. Rai, who has served as Most likely candidate Throughout much of the campaign, she said she had no intention of changing Tsai's China policy.Beijing hate She supported these policies and waged a diplomatic war against Tsai throughout her term. Chinese media has called Lai a “separatist” like Tsai.
Taiwan's opposition missed an opportunity create fusion ticket That might have been an advantage against Rai. Military experts said China may have dramatically stepped up election interference tactics after the Fusion Ticket effort collapsed, possibly leading to “psychological warfare” through balloon scares. Said AFP on Wednesday.
Chinese officials Said On Wednesday, Taiwanese voters called on voters to make the “right choice” and threatened to make the election a choice between “peace and war, prosperity and decline.”
Lai predicted on Wednesday that Taiwanese people would “resist” China's bullying, but said the party was “very concerned” about China's “very serious” election interference activities.
Rai said he was “confident in our people” because his country “has come from the dark ages of authoritarianism to today's situation.”
“Everyone values Taiwan's democracy. We are confident that the people will resist China's use of various forces to influence this election,” he told AFP.
