Taiwan detects six Chinese balloons near island

Two white balloons float near the Chinese flag as activist Rev. Patrick Mahoney protests against the Chinese government over the alleged Chinese surveillance balloon that was shot down over the US last week, during a demonstration outside the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C. on February 15, 2023. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)

Taiwan detected six Chinese balloons off the island, its defense ministry said Friday, as Beijing maintains military pressure to push its claim of sovereignty.

The six balloons were spotted in the 24 hours to 6:00 am on Friday (2200 GMT Thursday), the Taiwanese ministry said, in its daily tally of Chinese military activity around the island.

Along with the balloons, nine Chinese military aircraft, six warships and two official ships were detected over the same period near Taiwan.

Chinese balloons are regularly spotted over waters near Taiwan, but Friday’s figure is one of the highest recorded, according to an AFP tally of the military data.

While Taiwan calls itself a sovereign nation, China claims the island as part of its territory.

China has threatened to use force to bring Taiwan under its control.

In recent years, China has ramped up the deployment of fighter jets and warships around the island.

China has also sought to erase Taiwan from the international stage by poaching Taiwan’s diplomatic allies and blocking it from global forums.

Taiwan is a potential flashpoint for a war between China and the United States, which is the island’s most important backer and biggest arms supplier.

While the United States is legally bound to provide arms to Taiwan, Washington has long maintained “strategic ambiguity” when it comes to deploying its military to defend the island from a Chinese attack.

However, US President Donald Trump’s transactional style of diplomacy has raised concerns about his willingness to defend the island.

Trump rattled nerves during his election campaign by suggesting Taiwan should pay the United States for protection and accusing the island of stealing the US chip industry.

While Taipei has increased spending on its military in recent years, the island of 23 million people still relies heavily on US arms sales as a deterrence against Beijing.

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te has sought to get on side with the US administration and show the island’s commitment to investing more in its own defense.

But his government’s plan to increase defense spending to a record NT$647 billion ($19.7 billion) in 2025 appears to have been scuttled.

The opposition-controlled parliament last month approved deep cuts to the national budget, including defense.

While Taiwan has a homegrown defense industry and has been upgrading its equipment, it still relies heavily on US arms sales to bolster its security capabilities.