Taiwan's Defense Ministry says a Chinese weather balloon landed on one of its outlying islands, amid U.S. accusations that such craft have been dispatched worldwide to spy on Washington and its allies.
The ministry's statement on Thursday said the balloon carried equipment registered to a state-owned electronics company in the northern city of Taiyuan.
Reached by phone, a publicity officer at the company, identified in the report as Taiyuan Wireless First Factory Ltd., said it had provided electronics but had not built the balloon. Its deflation was likely a natural outcome of it having reached maximum altitude of around 30,000 meters , Liu said. Such balloons regularly fly over the Taiwan Strait but have only recently begun to draw attention, he said.
Washington is Taiwan's closest military and diplomatic ally, despite a lack of formal ties, which were cut in 1979. Beijing protests strongly over all contacts between the island and the U.S., but its aggressive diplomacy has helped build strong bipartisan support for Taipei on Capitol Hill.
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