Four Chinese balloons have reportedly floated over the Taiwan Strait, three of them crossing over the island's land mass and near its Ching-Chuan-Kang air base before disappearing, according to the Taiwan's defense ministry.
An appearance of a similar Chinese balloon caused quite a stir in the US last February.
Last week, CNN reported that an American intelligence assessment found the balloon that was shot down in US airspace last year used a commercial US internet provider to send navigation and location data to China - a report that has been at least partly disputed by other media.
The balloon was found to be full of readily available American hardware.
Beijing denied that the balloon's entry into US airspace was intentional - an argument that was initially challenged as the device had a propulsion system and steering capability.
The Pentagon eventually revealed the balloon did have intelligence gathering equipment, but had not relayed any information back to China, nor collected information while over the United States.
The three that passed over land held altitudes between 12 and 23 kilometers.
The balloons were accompanied by People's Liberation Army aircraft and navy vessels, according to the Ministry.
Two of the aircraft crossed over into Taiwanese airspace, and by Thursday, the ministry had detected six ships.
The presence of PLA aircraft and PLAN vessels near Taiwan occurs regularly, and the ministry is prone to daily updates on the count.
Balloons are also often detected near the island, however it is unusual for them to cross above land.
In the past, Taiwan has described the balloons as weather monitoring devices.
However the defense ministry reportedly declined to comment on what it thinks the latest set of balloons are being used for.
The appearance of the balloons over land occurred a little more than a week before Taiwan's January 13 presidential and parliamentary elections.
Media publications have noticed that translation takes some liberties.
This Cyber News was published on go.theregister.com. Publication date: Thu, 04 Jan 2024 10:43:06 +0000