Chinese weather balloon spotted near Taiwan a month ahead of presidential election

Taiwan's defence ministry has said that a Chinese balloon crossed the Taiwan Strait median line on Thursday, about a month before Taiwan's presidential election. The ministry of national defence (MND) earlier described it as a "surveillance balloon" but the defence minister, Chiu Kuo-cheng later told reporters at parliament: "our initial understanding is that it was a sounding balloon". A sounding balloon is a meteorology balloon which carries atmospheric measuring equipment to high altitudes. US officials have previously said large surveillance balloons are produced by the People's Liberation Army for collecting intelligence. The Guardian has contacted the MND for clarification on…