A record eight mainland Chinese balloons have been detected around Taiwan, with two directly flying over the island, Taipei’s defence ministry said on Saturday, Ednews informs via South China Morning Post.

The ministry said the balloons were spotted on Friday, the day before the start of the Lunar New Year holiday, at an altitude of 15,000 feet (4,572 metres) to 38,000 feet.

It was the highest number detected since the ministry started regularly releasing data on balloon sightings in December.

Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons.

Beijing has ramped up military pressure in recent years, and deploys warplanes and naval vessels around the island on a nearly daily basis.

In February last year, Taiwan’s military alerted aviation authorities after spotting a balloon floating in the island’s airspace but did not say where the balloon came from or provide a detailed location.

The latest balloon sightings came after Taiwan’s presidential election last month, which was won by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s William Lai Ching-te, who Beijing regards as a “separatist”.

Beijing warned ahead of the vote that a win by Lai would bring “war and decline” to Taiwan.