The ministry, in its regular morning update on Chinese military activities over the previous 24 hours, said the single balloon was detected at 6:21 p.m. (1021 GMT) on Sunday 60 nautical miles (111 km) to the north of Taiwan's Keelung port.

Taiwan said Monday it had detected a Chinese balloon over waters northwest of the island, the first reported since April, as Beijing maintains pressure on Taipei to accept its claims of sovereignty. Communist China claims democratic Taiwan as part of its territory and has refused to renounce the use of force to bring it under its control.

Taiwanese fighter jets will welcome back a flight carrying the island's baseball team after their victory at an international championship in Japan on Sunday thrilled fans at home. Taiwan is not a global sporting powerhouse but baseball is hugely popular having been introduced during the Japanese colonial era from 1895-1945.

The US is reportedly drawing up contingency plans for military deployments in Japan and the Philippines to counter China in case of an emergency over Taiwan.