TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of National Defense (MND) announced that a Chinese balloon was detected crossing the Taiwan Strait median line on Tuesday (Dec. 19).

The MND said one Chinese balloon was detected at 11:19 p.m. on Tuesday, around 117 km (63 nautical miles) northwest of Keelung at an altitude of approximately 3,657 m (12,000 ft). The balloon then headed east and disappeared at 2:05 a.m. on Wednesday (Dec. 20), according to the MND.

In addition, the MND also announced that eight People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft and three naval vessels were tracked around Taiwan from 6 a.m. Tuesday to 6 a.m. Wednesday. One Shaanxi KJ-500 early warning and control aircraft entered the southwest corner of the air defense identification zone (ADIZ).

When asked by Taiwan News whether the balloon was used for surveillance, an MND spokesperson said the preliminary assessment is that it was a weather balloon.