Army Says It Found Unidentified Floating Object Over Dongyin 東引不明物從天降 初判中國氣象探測儀器

An unidentified object was spotted falling from the sky over Dongyin island, which is Taiwan's northernmost territory. While the preliminary investigation shows it is a weather balloon from China, National Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said the relevant departments have collected the remains for further evaluation.

Taiwan's Army says it found an unidentified floating object over Dongyin Area Command Headquarters on the 16th and that it found remnants of a balloon with simplified Chinese characters written on it on its shooting range. The Army believes it was a weather monitoring balloon. On the 17th, National Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said the object looks very much like a weather balloon and he isn't making any assumptions at this point.

Chiu Kuo-cheng, National Defense Minister: “This may or may not be a weather balloon, but we're going to give our enemies the benefit of the doubt. I'm not going to assume anything, so I sent a team to investigate. We will announce the results at a later date.”

Chiu was then asked if a weather balloon floating over or around Taiwan constitutes a "first strike" by China. Chiu said it would be something that has to be dealt with. He also said Matsu's undersea cables getting cut by passing vessels was nothing short of a national security crisis.

Chiu Kuo-cheng, National Defense Minister: “If communication is cut off, it could be very dangerous. However, as I just said, the military has response plans.”

As no photos of the balloon remnants the military says it found have been released, lawmakers say the military and MND are trying to cover up the incident. TPP lawmaker Chiu Cheng-yuan says if a national security incident really occurred, the ministry should have kept it quiet. KMT lawmaker Chen Yu-jen, meanwhile, says ocean trash should not be treated as a national security issue.

Chen Yu-jen, Legislator (KMT): “We need more cross-Strait dialogue and communication to deal with ocean trash. I highly doubt this balloon is a national security threat.”

Su Tzu-yun, Director, Div. of Defense Strategy & Resources, INDSR: “Civil weather balloons may also be used by the military. Atmospheric data can be used to guide missiles or fire artillery.”

Analysts say the balloon did not have a motor and probably went off course due to currents. Nevertheless, the military says balloons are a new war tool and it must be very careful.

中國偵察氣球近期才導致美中關係緊張，陸軍東引地區指揮部16日卻發現空中有不明物體飄落，在靶場拾獲有簡體字的氣球殘體。陸軍初步研判是氣象探測儀器；國防部長邱國正17日回應，目前看似氣象氣球，會料敵從寬進一步研究。

國防部長邱國正表示：「這個氣象的氣球，但我覺得我們料敵從寬，我不這樣就認為，所以我派一組人去做這個研究，會把它細部了解以後再做一個結論。」

中國氣球若比照無人機擾台，是否符合第一擊定義？邱國正否認，指出是應對的處置；至於馬祖電纜斷線，邱國正直言屬於國安危機。

國防部長邱國正說道：「對外保持通聯如果斷了，當然是一個很危險的一件事情，但我剛剛講了，國軍在這方面都有一個附設作為。」

但國防部這回沒有公布氣球殘體照片惹議，被質疑大事化小，民眾黨立委邱臣遠指出，國防部應在國安情報隱密性原則下，適度對外說明，但國民黨立委陳玉珍認為是海漂垃圾，不用提升到國安層級。

國民黨立委陳玉珍提及：「兩岸還是需要多溝通，怎麼樣讓這些他們飄過來的垃圾，我們要費這麼多力氣去清除，再回去給他們。我想這個氣球應該沒有牽扯到，所謂相關的國安的這個議題。」

國防安全研究院國防戰略與資源研究所長蘇紫雲指出：「因為即使是民用的這個氣象氣球，它也通常具有這個軍民兩用的用途，因為這個大氣資料，很清楚地可以作為導彈或者是，火砲射擊的一個校正的一個資料。」

學者分析，這顆中國氣球體積較小，沒有安裝馬達，應是誤飄過來，但從俄烏戰爭可見俄軍使用偵察氣球搭配無人機進行情蒐，國軍必須防範新型態的戰爭手段。