The United States accuses China of having sent a high-altitude spy balloon equipped to gather intelligence on sensitive military installations.
According to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the object was detected and is being tracked. The balloon, presumably Chinese, is traveling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic.
NORAD and U.S. Northern Command statement on the high-altitude surveillance balloon. pic.twitter.com/dfdCOHf8Vf
— North American Aerospace Defense Command (@NORADCommand) February 3, 2023
Apparently, the Chinese spy balloon would have flown over strategic nuclear missile silo bases in the State of Montana. However, the Government of Joe Biden decided, for now, not to shoot down the spy device.
According to The Financial Times, a senior U.S. Defense official stated that Washington was «certain that this…belongs [to China].» «“The current flight path does carry it over a number of sensitive sites,” the official said, adding that it had entered US airspace “a couple of days ago”» and had been tracked using manned aircraft.
????It traveled over all of Alaska without being detected by NORAD. Over Canada and into the US. The US defenses are a joke now. American skies are as open as it’s borders! China has violated our air space and possibly released a bio-weapon on the American population. pic.twitter.com/rSD45oXv5r
— US Civil Defense (@USCivilDefense4) February 3, 2023
After its detection, immediate steps were taken to protect against the collection of important information, the defence official said, adding that the surveillance balloon “does not create significant” opportunities for China to gather intelligence beyond other methods such as low orbit satellites.
The incident comes as the United States and NATO fine-tune their defense and security policies toward China, a shift that has been exacerbated by Xi Jinping’s endorsement of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the war against Ukraine.
“Now China is much higher on the Nato agenda . . . ” Jens Stoltenberg, the military alliance’s secretary-general said on a visit to South Korea and Japan this week.
BREAKING ????: The pentagon has confirmed that the unknown object over Montana yesterday was a Chinese spy balloon pic.twitter.com/cLVShhrEHb
— Latest in space ???? (@latestinspace) February 3, 2023
“We see China is investing heavily in new modern military capabilities,” he added. “We see them in cyber space, we see what they are developing when it comes to space capabilities, satellites, everything, which are vital for communications on earth.”
On Wednesday, air traffic was temporarily halted in a 50-mile radius over an airport in Billings, Montana, in case the president decided to shoot down the balloon, but for now that option was dismissed, because of the risk the wreckage could pose to people on the ground, and to his limited intelligence-gathering capabilities.
