A Chinese weather balloon crossed the Taiwan Strait median line on Thursday, about a month before Taiwan’s presidential election, the defense ministry of Taiwan announced on Friday ( Dec 8 ).
According to Chiu Kuo-cheng, the minister of defense for Taiwan, it was initially believed to be a feeling bubble.
Taiwan, which China claims as its own place, generally charges Beijing with trying to sway votes in a way that will benefit the Taiwanese government by using force or financial stress.
On January 13, the area will hold legislative and presidential primaries.
Over the past four decades, China has increased its military pressure on Taiwan, staging two rounds of significant war games around the area in the last year and a half.
According to the defense ministry, the balloon traveled east for about an hour before dissipating after being spotted 101 nautical miles ( 187 kilometers ) southwest of the northern Chinese city of Keelung.
A bubble that descended on a distant Taiwanese-controlled archipelago close to China’s coast earlier this year, according to the defense ministry, was used for weather observation and had no audio-visual recording equipment on board.