The military late on Saturday released images of a suspected Chinese weather balloon found on Lienchiang County’s Dongyin Island (東引), saying the object did not carry audio or video recording devices.
Military personnel on Thursday found the balloon’s debris alongside an antenna, temperature and humidity sensors, a lithium battery and a data transmitter, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said on Saturday.
The balloon did not carry data storage equipment, it added.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of National Defense
The ministry said its investigation concluded that the balloon likely carried a radiosonde, which measures atmospheric parameters and transmits the data to a ground station by radio.
The military previously detected similar objects in Taiwan’s airspace and waters, most often between the months of December and February, it said.
The army’s Dongyin Area Command said it found the wreckage at about 11am on Thursday at a shooting range on Dongyin, which is about 40km from China’s Fujian Province.
The balloon had a diameter of 1m and bears the words “Taiyuan No. 1 Radio Factory,” “GTS13 Radiosonde” and “Meteorological Instrument” in simplified Chinese characters.
Taiyuan No. 1 Radio Factory is in Taiyuan, the capital of China’s Shanxi Province, and manufactures mechanical and weather instruments, according to information available online.
The wreckage was found after the military last week said that Chinese balloons that had been detected in Taiwan’s airspace were weather balloons and did not pose a security threat that would require them to be shot down.
An alleged Chinese espionage program using balloons has drawn global attention after a suspected Chinese spy balloon was shot down by the US on Feb. 4 off the coast of South Carolina.
The incident prompted US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel a planned visit to Beijing.
China has denied that the balloon was used for espionage and said it was a civilian balloon blown off course.
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