Taiwan Reports Incursion By 9 Chinese Military Aircraft, 4 Naval Ships Amid Spy-Balloon Row

Nine Chinese military aircraft and four naval vessels were tracked around Taiwan between 6 a.m. on Tuesday and 6 a.m. on Wednesday, the Ministry of National Defense said.

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft included one Shaanxi Y-8 anti-submarine warfare plane. It was monitored in the southwest corner of Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ), according to the MND.

Authorities said no PLA aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait median line during this time.

China has increased daily incursions on Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) and in some instances crossed the Taiwan Strait median line. The latest incursion comes as CNN shared images of Chinese spy balloons hovering over Taiwan in recent months. The U.S. recently shot down a giant Chinese balloon that was spying on key military sites across America.

In response to the latest incident, Taiwan sent aircraft and naval ships to monitor PLA's activities.

Since the beginning of February, China has sent 99 military aircraft and 37 naval ships around Taiwan.

These activities come amid growing concerns of a war threat from China, to take control of the island nation.

Meanwhile, a video shared by China's Eastern Theater Command on Sunday raised further concerns, as the Lantern Festival clip was full of war-like images.

The one-minute 25-second video included shots of red lanterns and touching family moments, along with threatening images of war and military strength.

The video also featured footage from Eastern Theater Command exercises that were carried out after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan in August.

TVBS anchor and military correspondent Tingting Liu described the video as "quite disturbing to many in TW" (Taiwan).

Liu commented: "While the execution of this video is different from the usual militaristic-centric approach favored by the (Eastern Theater Command), the messaging remains consistent with the (CCP's) stance of (unification) with Taiwan by force if necessary."

Admiral Harry Harris, former commander of US forces in the Pacific, told Congress that China's intent to take Taiwan is clear. Harris--who recently visited Taiwan--said Beijing was engaged in a quest to "intimidate, isolate and ultimately dominate Taiwan."

"Xi Jinping has shown us his intent regarding Taiwan time and time again, and shame on us if we ignore him," Bloomberg quoted him as saying.