Tensions between the United States and China reached a boiling point after President Joe Biden ordered an American fighter jet to intercept a Chinese spy balloon over the Atlantic Ocean. Before being shot down, the balloon apparently crossed the US mainland, angering Beijing’s authorities.
According to The New York Post, the communist country insisted that their balloon was “civilian” and not the espionage balloon that the United States claimed it to be. It also stated it may “respond further.”
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“In these circumstances, for the United States to insist on using armed force is clearly an excessive reaction that seriously violates international convention,” China said to The Post. “China will resolutely defend the legitimate rights and interests of the enterprise involved, and retains the right to respond further.”
A triumph for national security was reported by the Department of Defense on their website after an aerial item was successfully brought down.
“President Joe Biden ordered the action on Wednesday, but it was delayed until the balloon was over water off the coast of South Carolina to ensure no Americans on the ground were harmed,” it said.
“The balloon, which was being used by the PRC in an attempt to surveil strategic sites in the continental United States, was brought down above U.S. territorial waters,” Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III made the statement.
“The action was taken in coordination and support of the Canadian government. ‘We thank Canada for its contribution to tracking and analysis of the balloon through [North American Aerospace Defense Command] as it transited North America,’ Austin said. ‘Today’s deliberate and lawful action demonstrates that President Biden and his national security team will always put the safety and security of the American people first while responding effectively to the PRC’s unacceptable violation of our sovereignty,’ the secretary of defense said referring to the Peoples Republic of China.
“U.S. officials first detected the balloon and its payload on January 28 when it entered U.S. airspace near the Aleutian Islands. The balloon traversed Alaska, Canada and re-entered U.S. airspace over Idaho. ‘President Biden asked the military to present options and on Wednesday President Biden gave his authorization to take down the Chinese surveillance balloon as soon as the mission could be accomplished without undue risk to us civilians under the balloon’s path,’ said a senior defense official speaking on background. ‘Military commanders determined that there was undue risk of debris causing harm to civilians while the balloon was overland,’” According to the Department of Defense
“An F-22 Raptor fighter from the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, fired one AIM-9X Sidewinder missile at the balloon.
“The balloon fell approximately six miles off the coast in about 47 feet of water. No one was hurt,” it said.
“Long before the shoot down, U.S. officials took steps to protect against the balloon’s collection of sensitive information, mitigating its intelligence value to the Chinese. The senior defense official said the recovery of the balloon will enable U.S. analysts to examine sensitive Chinese equipment. ‘I would also note that while we took all necessary steps to protect against the PRC surveillance balloon’s collection of sensitive information, the surveillance balloon’s overflight of U.S. territory was of intelligence value to us,’ the official said. ‘I can’t go into more detail, but we were able to study and scrutinize the balloon and its equipment, which has been valuable.’”
China’s assertion that a surveillance balloon had veered off course and was out of their control caused a dispute between the Pentagon and China last week. Unmoved by this claim, they insisted that it could be manipulated, resulting in an unpleasant standoff between the two biggest forces in the world.
“The balloon is maneuverable,” Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, a spokesperson for the Pentagon, revealed this to reporters on Friday. “It violated the law. We communicated that to China.”
He said that blasting the balloon down “was taken into consideration,” but “because we assessed that currently, it does not pose a psychical or military risk to people on the ground, for now, we are continuing to monitor and review options.”
“What we’re not gonna do is get into an hour-by-hour location of the balloon,” the spokesman said.
“Does the public not have the right to know…?” Before the spokesperson responded in his most glib manner, a reporter remarked.
“The public certainly has the ability to look up in the sky and see where the balloon is,” he said.
China stunned the globe on Friday when they revealed that a balloon that had been floating across American territory was really theirs. Even though this “spy balloon,” according to the People’s Republic of China, wasn’t intended to fly into American airspace, it nonetheless created quite a stir online.
“The airship is from China. It is a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes,” a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Friday. “Affected by the Westerlies and with limited self-steering capability, the airship deviated far from its planned course.”
“The Chinese side regrets the unintended entry of the airship into US airspace due to force majeure. The Chinese side will continue communicating with the US side and properly handle this unexpected situation caused by force majeure,” the spokesperson said.
