Taiwan Says It Reserves Right to Shoot Down Chinese Balloons

(Bloomberg) -- Taiwan’s military said it reserved the right to shoot down any Chinese balloon it deems a threat, comments that come after a report that the aircraft often fly over the democratically run island.

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“The ministry has rules in terms of response and will continue revising the rules in a timely manner to respond to new threats such as balloons,” Defense Ministry spokesperson Sun Li-fang said in a phone call on Monday.

“The military will adopt appropriate measures, including shooting threats down, according to the level of concern,” he added.

The Financial Times reported the balloon flights by China’s military are frequent, with one occurring in recent weeks, citing a senior official from Taiwan. The devices appear in the airspace of the island that China has pledged to bring under its control about once a month, another official said.

Read: US Shoots Down Fourth Object as China Flings New Accusation

Any move by Taiwan to down such a balloon would likely prompt an angry response from China, which said the US “overreacted” when it deployed an F-22 fighter to shoot one down off the US East Coast.

The US said the balloon was for surveillances purposes. China insists it was for civilian use and was collecting climate data when it was blown off course.

Taiwan’s military normally dispatches aircraft to observe balloons from China, a senior official who asked not to be identified discussing the sensitive topic said Monday, adding they were for military purposes.

Also: Taiwan Will Treat China Flights Into Airspace as ‘First Strike’

Taiwan’s military acted in self-defense when it shot down a drone near an offshore outpost, then-Premier Su Tseng-chang said in September last year. Su referred to earlier unmanned aircraft that appeared in Taiwan territory as “Chinese drones.”

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