North Americans shot down alleged Chinese spy balloon; Beijing says object was “used for research purposes”
China said this Sunday morning (Feb 5, 2023), local time – Saturday night (Feb 4) in Brasília–, that “strongly disapproves” It is “protests” for the “US attack on an unmanned civilian airship”. Beijing stated that “reserves the right” to take actions in the future.
The United States knocked down on Saturday (4.feb) an alleged Chinese spy balloon off the coast of the States of North and South Carolina after the equipment flew over sensitive military sites. The episode resulted in an escalation of tensions between the Americans and the Chinese.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that the flight of a Chinese balloon over North American territory was “irresponsible”.
The China I had saidon Friday (Feb 3), that it was a “used for research purposes, mainly meteorological”, which deviated from its course due to wind currents.
At the announcement issued after the overthrow, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is said to have informed the US of the entry “totally unexpecteda” of the balloon in North American territory.
“The Chinese side has clearly asked the US side to properly handle the matter in a calm, professional and restrained manner.”, reads the note.
According to the ministry, the US Department of Defense “noted that the balloon did not pose a military or physical threat” for Americans.
“Under these circumstances, the use of force by the United States is a clear overreaction and a serious violation of international practice.”, said the ministry. “China will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the company in question and reserves the right to provide further responses if necessary.”
UNDERSTAND THE CASE
On Thursday (Feb 2), the Pentagon announced that it had detected a “Chinese high altitude surveillance balloon” over North American territory. The equipment was located in the State of Montana, close to Malmstrom Air Force Base, where there are 3 fields of silos that store US nuclear missiles.
“Once the balloon was detected, the US government took immediate action to protect against sensitive information being collected.”, said the US agency in announcement.
Pentagon press secretary Patrick Ryder said during an interview with journalists on Friday (Feb 3) that the balloon was being monitored “closely” by Norad (North American Aerospace Defense Command).
He did not give an exact location of the object, but said that the equipment was floating at an altitude of 60,000 feet (about 18,000 meters) over the central part of the United States.
Ryder also commented on the China demonstration and dismissed claims that the balloon was not used for surveillance. “The thing is, we know it’s a surveillance balloon, and I can’t be more specific than that. We know that the balloon violated US airspace and international law, which is unacceptable.“, he spoke.
The government of Canada was also monitoring the situation. “Intelligence agencies are working with US partners and continue to take all necessary steps to protect Canada’s sensitive information from foreign intelligence threats.”, said in note.
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