Taiwan says it has detected a record number of eight Chinese balloons. The aircraft were all spotted on Friday, on the eve of the Lunar New Year celebrated on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
This is the largest number of balloons detected by the ministry since its first regular publications of data on the observation of devices of this type, in December. Beijing considers the democratic and autonomous island of Taiwan as part of its territory and has never renounced using force to regain control of the island. In recent years, China has increased its military pressure and deployed combat planes and warships around the island almost daily.