Taipei [Taiwan], May 15 : Taiwan's military detected the wreckage of a suspected China-made weather balloon at one of its offshore frontline islets near China, Focus Taiwan reported.
Taiwan Army's Matsu Defense Command which is responsible for guarding the Matsu archipelago near southwestern China in a press release said that its Juguang Defense Team found the wreckage of a suspected weather balloon on a road outside its camp during patrolling on Saturday.
As per the news report, the suspected balloon had the simplified Chinese characters for "Shanghai Chang Wang Meteorological Technology Company" and "GTS12 digital radiosonde" written on it. China uses simplified Chinese characters while Taiwan makes use of complex or traditional Chinese characters, Focus Taiwan reported.
An initial investigation concluded that the wreckage belonged to a suspected weather balloon. Taiwan's army will further investigate the wreckage and has planned to continue beefing up its patrol to closely monitor movements around the military bases, Focus Taiwan reported citing a press release.
The Command has not shared the exact location and time with regards to the findings. The Juguang Defense team is responsible for guarding Juguang Township's two islands - Dongju Island and Xiju Island. The township is located less than 10 kilometres from China's Fujian province.
Earlier in February, Taiwan's military found a similar wreckage from an alleged Chinese weather balloon. Taiwan army's Matsu Defense Command had detected the wreckage, Focus Taiwan reported.
Alleged Chinese balloon programs have gained the international community's attention after a suspected Chinese spy balloon was spotted and shot down by the US in American airspace on February 4.
The incident resulted in a diplomatic dispute with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken calling off his trip to China. However, China has said that the balloon was not used for spying and claimed that it was a civilian airship used for meteorological research and had blown off course.
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