Chinese Balloon Spotted by Taiwan, First Time Since April

taipei - The Taiwanese Ministry of Defense reports seeing a Chinese balloon above the sea in the north of Taiwan, marking the first incident of its kind since April.

In January, Taiwan complained about the balloons being deployed on an 'unprecedented scale' in the weeks leading up to the presidential elections. China, however, dismissed Taiwan's complaints regarding the balloons, stating that they were used for meteorological purposes. Last year, the United States shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon, which China claimed was a civilian vessel that had drifted accidentally. The balloon, equivalent in size to three buses, flew over the US mainland for several days.