After days of observation, US fighter jets took the “surveillance balloon” out of the sky. The relationship between the US and China is now heavily strained. The news ticker.
- risk for People on the ground: Biden orders balloon launch over sea
- affair around “Spy Balloon”: Blinken cancels visit to China
- Worries to further flying object: Balloon sighted over Colombia
- This News ticker to the Spy Balloon Affair between China and the USA is constantly updated.
February 5 update at 1:26 p.m: The use of balloons as observation platforms is not uncommon. Unlike satellites, they can stay in one place and don’t have to make a new orbit around the earth to take more pictures, experts say.
They can observe more details and movements over a longer period of time from closer up, and are difficult to detect for radar. They could also intercept communications. The controls are significantly improved today. In addition, they are cheaper than satellites
China has a fleet of surveillance balloons, a Pentagon official said, according to US broadcaster ABC. They have previously been sighted across five continents, including East Asia, South Asia and Europe.
Launch of balloon from China: airport locks in the USA
February 5 update at 12:48 p.m: Before the Launch of the balloon from China the FAA had temporarily closed three airports. Accordingly, take-offs and landings in Wilmington, Myrtle Beach and Charleston in the states of South Carolina and North Carolina were interrupted. “The aim of the balloon is clearly espionage and its current route is via sensitive bases,” a Pentagon official said of the three-bus-sized balloon’s overflight.
First report from February 5th: WASHINGTON – The balloon affair has put a significant strain on US-China relations. US fighter pilots take the suspected spy balloon out of the sky with a rocket – they complain that their sovereignty has been violated. Beijing, in turn, protested against the “overreaction”. And then Colombia also reports a flying object.
Risk for people on the ground: Biden commands balloon launch over sea
US President Joe Biden said he ordered the balloon to be launched on Wednesday (February 1). When he was informed, he immediately ordered the flying object to be shot down “as quickly as possible,” he said, which can also be heard in the video clip below. “For safety,” Biden said.
In order to exclude any risk for the people on the ground, the US Air Force first took the flying object out of the sky over the sea and within US sovereign territory, according to Biden:
Affair about “espionage balloon”: Blinken cancels China visit
The balloon affair developed into a new heavy strain on the already strained relations between the two powers. In response, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled his visit to Beijing, which was expected for Sunday, at short notice on Friday. It would have been the first visit by a US Secretary of State to China since 2018. According to media reports, Blinken should also have been received by China’s head of state and party leader Xi Jinping.
Concern for another flying object: balloon sighted over Colombia
Relations between the two countries have fallen to perhaps their lowest level since diplomatic relations were established in 1979. China’s backing for Russia’s war in Ukraine, its claims in the South China Sea, US export controls for high-tech and the associated trade war against Beijing are causing controversy.
China accuses the US of impeding its rise and wanting a new Cold War. A US general recently thought a war with China over Taiwan was possible as early as 2025.
Colombia and the US are currently tracking a possible additional observation balloon that has been sighted over the Latin American country. (frs with material from dpa and AFP)
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