Taiwan finds suspected China-made weather balloon debris

The balloon was found in the islets located close to China on Saturday.

In a press release, the Army's Matsu Defense Command, which is responsible for guarding the Matsu archipelago near southwestern China, said its Juguang Defense Team has found the wreckage of a suspected weather balloon on a road outside its camp during a patrol Saturday evening, reports Focus Taiwan.

The suspected balloon has the simplified Chinese characters for "Shanghai Chang Wang Meteorological Technology Company " and "GTS12 digital radiosonde" imprinted on it, the news agency reported.

Taiwan uses complex or traditional Chinese characters, while China uses simplified Chinese characters.

An initial probe has concluded that the wreckage belonged to a suspected weather balloon.

Taiwan's Army will further examine the wreckage, and plans to also continue beefing up its patrol to closely monitor movements around its military bases, according to the press release.

The command, however, did not give an exact location and time concerning its finding.

What is the basis of China’s claim over Taiwan?

The basis of China’s claim over Taiwan dates back to 1945 when Japan lost its control over the island in 1945,post-World War Two.

The 1949 Chinese civil war led to communists taking control and Chiang Kai-shek the one who lost fled to Taiwan. He ruled it for many decades. This is where China’s claim to Taiwan emanates.

The very fact that Chiang Kai-shek came to Taiwan and was not indigenous to the place is Taiwan’s argument against the claim.