Taiwan’s military found the wreckage of a suspected Chinese weather balloon on one of its offshore frontline islets near China early on Thursday.
In a press release, the Army’s Dongyin Area Command which is responsible for guarding Dongyin islet, part of the Matsu archipelago governed by Lienchiang County in the Republic of China (Taiwan), said solders found the wreckage of a suspected weather balloon believed to have originated in China earlier in the day.
The islet located about 40km from China’s Fujian Province is one of the closest Taiwan-controlled territories to China.
The suspected balloon, with a one meter diameter and the simplified Chinese characters “Taiyuan No. 1 Radio Factory,” “GTS13 Radiosonde” and “Meteorological Instrument” written on it, was found at about 11 a.m. Thursday at a shooting range, the command said.
An initial probe has concluded that the suspected weather balloon came from China with the Army set to further examine the wreckage, according to the press release.
Taiwan uses complex or traditional Chinese characters, while China uses simplified Chinese characters.
Meanwhile, Taiyuan No. 1 Radio Factory based in Taiyuan City, the capital of Shanxi Province, manufactures mechanical and weather instruments, according to information available online.
The finding was made after Taiwan’s military said on Tuesday that Chinese balloons detected in Taiwan’s airspace to date have been weather balloons and did not pose a security threat that would require them to be shot down.
Alleged Chinese balloon programs have drawn global attention after a suspected Chinese spy balloon was spotted and shot down by the United States on Feb. 4 in American airspace.
The incident also led to a diplomatic crisis, with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken calling off a trip to China.
However, Beijing has denied that the balloon was used for spying and claims it was a civilian airship blown off course.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel