Chinese Balloon Was Found On Its Northern Island: Taiwan

Taiwan's Defence Ministry in a statement said that a Chinese weather balloon has landed on one of its outlying islands, despite US claims that such craft has been dispatched around the world to spy on Washington and its allies. 

According to a statement issued by the ministry on Thursday, the balloon was carrying equipment registered to a state-owned electronics company in the northern city of Taiyuan.

Tungyin, the islet where it was discovered, is part of the Matsu island ground, which is located just off the coast of China's Fujian province.

Taiwan retained control of the islands after the sides split in 1949 during a civil war, and they are regarded as a first line of defence should China follow through on its threats to take Taiwan by force if necessary.

Calls and messages were not returned to the company named Taiyuan Wireless (Radio) First Factory in the report. According to the ministry, information on the equipment was written in simplified Chinese characters used on the mainland rather than the traditional characters used in Taiwan.

China regularly sends military aircraft and warships into Taiwan's air identification zone and across the Taiwan Strait's middle line. As a result, Taiwan has increased its military purchases from the United States, expanded domestic production of local planes, submarines, and fighting ships and extended compulsory military service to all males.

Despite the lack of formal ties severed in 1979, Washington is Taiwan's closest military and diplomatic ally. Beijing strongly opposes all contact between Taiwan and the United States, but Beijing's aggressive diplomacy has helped build strong bipartisan support for Taipei on Capitol Hill.

Following three weeks of high-stakes drama sparked by the discovery of a suspected Chinese spy balloon transiting much of the country, President Joe Biden said on Thursday that the US is developing “sharper rules” to track, monitor and potentially shoot down unknown aerial objects.

Biden has directed national security adviser Jake Sullivan to lead an “interagency team” to review US procedures following the shooting down of the Chinese balloon, as well as three other objects that the US now believes were “benign” objects launched by private companies or research institutions, according to Biden.

While not apologising for shooting down the three unidentified objects, Biden expressed hope that the new rules would help “distinguish between those that are likely to pose safety and security risks that necessitate action and those that do not.”