Taiwan's Defense Ministry said Sunday it had detected eight Chinese balloons around Taiwan for the second day in a row, including five flying directly over the island.
The planes were all spotted at an altitude of between 3,600 and 10,700 meters on Saturday, the Lunar New Year celebrated on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, according to the same source.
Five of the balloons flew over the island and another grazed its northern tip, a map released by the ministry shows.
Beijing considers the democratic and autonomous island of Taiwan part of its territory and has never refrained from using force to regain control.
In recent years, China has increased its military pressure, deploying fighter jets and warships almost daily around the island, which is increasingly being flown over by balloons.
A total of eight balloons were also spotted on Friday, the highest number since the Defense Department began regularly publishing data on sightings of such aircraft in December.
In February 2023, the Taiwanese army alerted aviation authorities after spotting a balloon flying over Taiwan's airspace, but did not disclose the aircraft's origin or its exact location.
The latest balloon sightings come as Lai Ching-te of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), viewed by Beijing as a “separatist” party, won Taiwan's presidential election in January.
Ahead of the vote, Beijing had warned that a victory by Mr. Lai would lead Taiwan into “war” and “decline.”
Since the Jan. 13 election, the largest attacks have come from 33 Chinese warplanes, many of which were spotted around Taiwan twice in January.
Eight days after the presidential election, the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense spotted six balloons, a record for these aircraft at the time.
In September, around 103 Beijing fighter jets were spotted in the surrounding skies within 24 hours.