United States, the Pentagon raises the alarm: “A Chinese spy balloon sighted in US airspace”
In recent days a Chinese spy balloon was intercepted by the Pentagon while flying over the northern United States. This was reported by the NBC, which cites American Defense sources. The “spy balloon” Chinese sighted by the Pentagon in the American skies it is currently still visible. This was communicated by Pentagon spokesman, General Pat Ryder, in a statement to Nbc News, which broke the news.
“The United States government – he explained – has spotted and is tracking a high-altitude surveillance balloon that is still now over the US mainland“. “We continue – he added – to follow it and monitor it closely”. Once intercepted, the Pentagon explained, the US government triggered the protection plan to avoid a collection of sensitive data. The ‘spy balloon‘ was intercepted over Billings, Montana, Wednesday after crossing into Canada.
Everyone wants a glimpse of the Chinese spy balloon, it’s gonna be THE raging internet trend for the next few days assuming the air force doesn’t shoot it down. If you’re not on your lawn getting noisy shots of every speck in the sky, you’re missing out. pic.twitter.com/SA630Tfgy6
— Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews) February 2, 2023
The secretary to Defense Lloyd Austin he quickly called a meeting with top military officials, including Joint Staff Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley. At the moment it has not been decided to shoot down the balloon, due to the risk that the remains could hit someone. The The Pentagon spoke to US President Joe Biden about it to evaluate all options. There was a time in Montana where the ‘spy balloon’ could be hit and shot down by one of the following F-22 Raptors without causing collateral damage, but why it was allowed to continue was not explained. The Pentagon is sure the balloon belongs to China and communicated it to the Beijing government. Representatives of the US administration would not say whether the Chinese admitted it was them.
Pentagon alarm alerts Canadian defense
Canadian national defense is monitoring a potential second suspected Chinese spy balloon. “A high-altitude surveillance balloon has been detected and its movements are being actively monitored by North American Aerospace Defense Command NORAD,” the national defense said in a statement. “THE Canadians are safe and we are taking steps to keep the airspace safe, including monitoring for a potential second crash.”the statement added.
The US State Department has summoned the Chinese charge d’affaires
The US State Department has summoned the Chinese charge d’affaires in Washington, Xu Xueyuan, “to convey a very clear and hard message” following the Pentagon’s sighting of a Chinese ‘spy balloon’ over American skies. The Wall Street Journal writes it quoting a US official.
The episode, which marks one of the most aggressive Chinese intelligence-gathering maneuvers in recent years, comes a few days after the visit of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Beijing. Washington, always writes the Wall Street Journal, has refused to say whether it will cancel the mission of the head of American diplomacy, part of an effort to revive strained relations, marked by the geopolitical rivalry of the countries and exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. The United States, with Blinken’s visit to China, aims to address persistent disputes ranging from Taiwan to technology and intends to underline the Biden administration’s interest in finding areas for potential cooperation. The Chinese embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment from The Wall Street Journal.
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