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Pentagon tracking suspected Chinese spy balloon over the US

Yep, the fact that even past incidents are now surfacing, being publicly acknowledged is interesting.
A friend of mine who now work in the Pentagon said this is a "Yearly" thing

It's like them sending us a Christmas card. And no one talk about that in the last 20 years or so, so why now they just come and make a big deal out of it??
 
The strong response pretty much confirmed it's not a spy balloon, otherwise the response would have been a lot lower profile, that's the unwritten rule. Like the last time we fished out the underwater spy UAV, the Americans didn't say a word.
No the strong response doesn't confirm its not a spy balloon. No different than asking for our RQ170 plane back or our UUV from China.


Pentagon: Chinese Navy Stole U.S. Underwater Drone​

A Chinese Navy ship stole a U.S. Navy unmanned underwater vehicle from international waters Thursday, according to the Pentagon.

Otherwise they keep it hidden if it was a spy vehicle then right?
 
No the strong response doesn't confirm its not a spy balloon. No different than asking for our RQ170 plane back or our UUV from China.


Pentagon: Chinese Navy Stole U.S. Underwater Drone​

A Chinese Navy ship stole a U.S. Navy unmanned underwater vehicle from international waters Thursday, according to the Pentagon.

Otherwise they keep it hidden if it was a spy vehicle then right?
Come on, the number of spy ships and spy planes US send to the Chinese coast every year is hundreds of times compared to this balloon, did China complain about anything?

Describe your behavior in Chinese:“玩不起不要玩,Can not afford to play do not play”

Now a little balloon scares you like this:flame:, the once mighty empire has fallen:yahoo:
 
Come on, the number of spy ships and spy planes US send to the Chinese coast every year is hundreds of times compared to this balloon, did China complain about anything?

Describe your behavior in Chinese:“玩不起不要玩,Can not afford to play do not play”

Now a little balloon scares you like this:flame:, the once mighty empire has fallen:yahoo:
Yes every year did you decided to sink all the ships and shoot down all the aircraft? Why haven't you done so? Maybe oh because the difference is they are in international waters. Because for sure you wouldn't allow the ships and planes flying into middle of China.
 
No the strong response doesn't confirm its not a spy balloon. No different than asking for our RQ170 plane back or our UUV from China.


Pentagon: Chinese Navy Stole U.S. Underwater Drone​

A Chinese Navy ship stole a U.S. Navy unmanned underwater vehicle from international waters Thursday, according to the Pentagon.

Otherwise they keep it hidden if it was a spy vehicle then right?
it went into the fishnet, how can you call that stealing.. it's also not a civilian drone unlike the weather balloon
 
Whenever you have a mob cheering and shouting "kill kill kill", you know something is wrong.
The ubiquity of American cheerleading for having shot down the balloon makes me wonder why this had to be a bad idea. So I thought about it and came up with the following:

US balloons traversing over China are now fair game. Believe it or not US "Weather" balloons do fly over China too.
Could low orbit satellites also be fair game?
China did not want Blinken to come to ask for Chinese assistance in Ukraine - buy China and Russia time

There has to be more to this. Chinese are very smart and patient thinkers.
 
There were already 1 or twice of this since Biden took power, there were 3 during Trump.
Yes, and they didn't seem to care previously. The fact that this time they've so dramatically branded it a spy aircraft and scrambled multiple F-22s to shoot it down this time is strange.
 
Yes, and they didn't seem to care previously. The fact that this time they've so dramatically branded it a spy aircraft and scrambled multiple F-22s to shoot it down this time is strange.
Well, pretty sure they did the same thing previously, but this time they are doing it on TV as I said, I can't figure out why,
 
CNN —
The Pentagon is tracking a suspected Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon over the continental United States, a senior defense official said on Thursday.

The Pentagon has been tracking the balloon for several days as it made its way over the northern United States, Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said. He added that the US military decided against shooting the balloon down.

“The balloon is currently traveling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic and does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground,” Ryder said.

“We are confident that this high-altitude surveillance balloon belongs to the [People’s Republic of China],” the senior defense official said. “Instances of this activity have been observed over the past several years, including prior to this administration.”

The official said the US government has engaged with the Chinese government both through the Chinese embassy in Washington and the US diplomatic mission in China.

The balloon “does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground,” Ryder said.

The senior defense official added that it was the “strong recommendation” of senior military leaders, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, “not to take kinetic action due to the risk to safety and security of people on the ground from the possible debris field.”

Officials assessed that the balloon has “limited additive value” from an intelligence collection perspective, the official said.

The news comes as Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to travel to Beijing in the coming days, a significant trip meant to follow up on President Joe Biden’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping last year. The conversation between the two leaders was “open and candid,” Biden said at the time, adding that while he was not “suggesting this is kumbaya,” he didn’t believe there’s need for concern of “a new Cold War.”

Tensions between the US and China escalated in August last year with the visit of then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, which resulted in China’s announcement of military exercises at the same time.

How come it travelled to America .
 

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