A year after raising a lot of questions in the United States and Canada, Chinese observation balloons, quickly dubbed “spy balloons” by the Americans, have been flying over Taiwan for several weeks. A record number of six Chinese balloons were detected around and above the “rebel island”, the Ministry of Defense announced in Taipei on Monday.
20 minutes takes stock, while this is the highest number since the ministry began regularly publishing data on balloons spotted in Taiwan’s skies in December.
Where exactly were these Chinese balloons spotted?
Five Chinese balloons were spotted west of Keelung, a port city in northern Taiwan, and one west of the southern county of Pingtung, flying over the archipelago, according to a map published by the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense. The ministry, which publishes daily data on the Chinese military presence around Taiwan, said they were all spotted Sunday at an altitude between 15,000 and 17,000 feet (4.6 to 5.2 kilometers).
Had other balloons already flown over Taiwan?
Last February, the army alerted the air authorities after spotting a balloon in its airspace, but it did not specify its origin or a more detailed location. In December, the Taipei Defense Ministry began reporting the appearance of Chinese balloons around Taiwan, noting that on at least four occasions they flew directly over the archipelago.
Then, other balloons were spotted after the presidential election on January 13, won by leader Lai Ching-te, who opposed reunification. Since December, more than forty balloons have crossed the Taiwan Strait (23 between January 2 and 7), which separates the island from mainland China, according to the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense.
But what are these balloons for?
On January 6, the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense condemned “the Chinese communists’ contempt for air safety” and denounced “an attempt [chinoise] to use cognitive warfare to affect the morale of our people.” The presence of Chinese spy balloons has, according to experts, been assimilated to “a pressure move to favor Hou Yu-ih”, candidate in the Taiwanese presidential election and favorable to rapprochement with China. “The political objective is much more important than the military objective. Beijing wanted to arouse doubts and concern […] in order to change the attitude of the Taiwanese people in the context of the elections,” defense expert Su Tzu-yun told AFP.
Because China, which considers the island as an integral part of its territory, had sworn to one day bring it back into its fold, using force if necessary. Beijing has thus intensified its military and political pressure in recent years by sending an unprecedented number of combat planes and warships around the island.
Beijing reiterated after the January 13 victory of leader Lai Ching-te, a member of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and defender of Taiwan’s sovereignty: it would not tolerate “separatist activities” in Taiwan. Although China has not since sent an excessive number of military aircraft, the largest incursion took place this Thursday, with Taipei reporting 24 Chinese military planes around the island in the space of 24 hours, including 11 crossed the median line – an unofficial demarcation between China and Taiwan that the former does not recognize.
Between the “spy balloons” and the planes, “Beijing means that it can violate Taiwanese airspace and call into question its sovereignty”, estimates Raymond Kuo, Taiwan expert at the American institute Rand Corporation, cited by the AFP. As for Gerry Soejatman, independent aeronautics expert, he assures that these balloons represent a threat because they also risk disrupting air traffic, commercial planes generally flying at an altitude of 24,000 to 40,000 feet (7.3 to 12 kilometers).