Taipei, Jan. 4 -- Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense detected the presence of five Chinese vessels, an official ship and a balloon operating around its territorial waters as of 6am (local time) on Sunday.

Taiwan said they responded accordingly.

"(U) 5 PLAN vessels and 1 official ship operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 1 PRC balloon were detected during this timeframe. ROC Armed Forces have monitored the situation and responded."

Earlier on Saturday, the MND detected four sorties of Chinese aircraft, six naval vessels and an official ship.

In a post on X, the MND said, "(U) 4 sorties of PLA aircraft, 6 PLAN vessels and 1 official ship operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) tod...