The launch of a Chinese satellite caused the rocket debris to fall in a maritime area north of Taiwan, where Beijing had banned navigation, according to the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense. The satellite passed off Taiwan’s northern coast, and debris from the launching rocket fell into the warning zone, the source said, although it stressed that the debris did not affect the territory’s internal security. Chinese state media confirmed Sunday’s launch of a new weather satellite from a space center in northern China. The maritime exclusion zone was closed to navigation this Sunday between 9:00 and 15:00 due to the possible fall of rocket debris, as indicated by the maritime authorities of Fujian, the Chinese province located in front of Taiwan.
The satellite will provide weather forecasting, disaster prevention and mitigation, climate change response, and ecological conservation services, according to Xinhua news agency. The satellite launch comes amid rising tensions between Taipei and Beijing after the Chinese military rehearsed a siege of the self-ruled island from April 9 to 11. The Taiwanese Ministry of Defense said that the rocket debris fell in an area where navigation had been temporarily banned, although the incident had no major consequences for the security of the region. Images broadcast by the public broadcaster CCTV showed the moment when a white rocket took off from the Jiuquan launch center in Gansu province, leaving a plume of smoke and dust in its wake.