Three Chinese balloons fly near a crucial air base in Taiwan

Beijing is again supposedly using balloons to collect intelligence from Taiwan while the island is rushing to prepare for presidential and parliamentary elections on January 13th. According to Taiwan News, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense on Wednesday, January 3rd, said that it detected four Chinese balloons at 8.27am, 2.53pm, 3.52pm, and 6.41pm on January 2nd, respectively. After they crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait, the first three flew over the central part of the island, 120 to 180 miles southwest of Qingchuan Kang in Taichung City, home to a crucial Taiwanese airbase. The three balloons flew at altitudes of 12,000 feet, 3,600 meters, 18,000 feet, and 22,000 feet, respectively. The fourth balloon was seen 89 miles northwest of Guilin and flew at 24,000 feet. The balloons disappeared at 10.48am, 5.18pm, 7.01pm, and 7.02pm on the same day. Chinese balloons were shot down by the U.S. military last year after hovering over U.S. airspace. This event sparked discussions that China uses balloons to gather intelligence information.