The Ministry of Defense of Taiwan disseminates information about this. This is the first time that balloons from China flew directly over Taiwan. We are talking about four objects, three of which were supposed to fly over the central part of the island. The local ministry had already warned in December that Chinese balloons had started to appear in the Taiwan Strait. One of them flew 194 km from the Ching Chuan Kang base, an important base of the Taiwanese air force.
Balloons in Taiwan
Therefore, in recent weeks, Taiwan's military has been keeping a particularly close eye on any movement by the Chinese armed forces that could affect the island. Political tension is exacerbated by the issue of the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections, which are particularly important from the point of view of Taiwan's status.
The People's Republic of China (China) does not recognize Taiwan as a separate state and considers the island as its own territory. In international relations, it uses the “one China” principle, which means that the country is represented in Beijing only by the government.
Elections in Taiwan will be held on January 13.
Taiwan's defense ministry declined to say whether the balloons that flew over the island were weather balloons or if they were being used for “other purposes” – possibly espionage.
China wants to take over the island
In August 2022, China also conducted exercises near the island after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taipei. The American politician accused the Beijing authorities of using the visit of the US delegation as a pretext for aggression. He said the purpose of the trip was to “maintain peace in the Taiwan Strait” and not to change the island's status quo. In response, China imposed sanctions against Pelosi and cut military communications with the US military. Only in December 2023 These contacts have been updated.
A possible Chinese takeover of Taiwan remains a concern for Washington and is one of the main points of contention between the US and the Middle Kingdom.
Beijing says it wants to achieve peaceful “unification” with Taiwan and is not preparing to use military force.
– In this sense, there is an old Chinese saying.A clash of arms is the defeat of a strategist“, which means that the withdrawal of the army is the last resort. And absolutely nothing changes here. Therefore, we must expect some kind of blockade, some strategy, deception, bribery, corruption, etc. However, unfortunately, we cannot rule out military intervention either. Professor Bogdan Goralchik In March, he asked if there would be a kinetic clash between China and the US to defend Taiwan.
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(translate tags)balls Taiwan