Status: 02/13/2023 1:43 p.m
In the dispute over balloon launches over North America, China has made serious allegations once morest the United States. The “espionage empire” is using balloons, airplanes and ships once morest its country, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang.
China has accused the US of flying high-altitude balloons over China more than 10 times in the past year. This was done without the permission of the People’s Republic, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin in Beijing. The US should stop blaming others and seeking confrontation.
It is quite common for US balloons to fly at high altitudes over other countries. The US also sent planes and warships to collect intelligence on China, the spokesman said. There have already been 64 missions in the South China Sea this year.
USA allegedly eavesdropping on allies
“It’s pretty clear which country is the leading spy empire in the world,” the spokesman said. He also referred to wiretapping activities and a large network of agents in the United States. The US intercepted foreign leaders’ calls and messages from Germany, France, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands and other European countries, Wang claimed.
The spokesman reiterated that the entry into US airspace of the Chinese balloon shot down a week ago was a “completely unexpected and isolated event” caused by “force majeure”. He had “no information” regarding the other flying objects reported followingwards.
Fourth aircraft shot down over Sea of Huron
The US Army destroyed the fourth flying object on Sunday. It was shot down on the US-Canada border over Lake Huron. US President Joe Biden ordered the shooting down as a precautionary measure, two US government officials said, without giving details. The object was not classified as a “military threat”.
Democratic Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin of Michigan tweeted that “the object was shot down by US Air Force and National Guard pilots.” “We are all interested in what exactly this object was and what purpose it served.”
Republican Congressman Jack Bergman, from Michigan state, where the lake partially covers, wrote on Twitter that he had been in contact with the Department of Defense regarding operations in the area. “I applaud the decisive action taken by our fighter pilots,” he wrote. And: “The American people deserve far more answers than we have.”
Recovery of the remains should provide information
US fighter jets shot down two unidentified flying objects on Friday and Saturday: one off the coast of the US state of Alaska, the other over northern Canada. So far it is unclear what kind of objects they were, where they came from and what their goal was. The salvage of remains should provide information.
A week earlier, the US Air Force had brought down a Chinese balloon suspected of being used for espionage purposes off the coast of the state of South Carolina.
First contact between the USA and China
The United States has now communicated with China regarding the case for the first time. Deputy Secretary of Defense Melissa Dalton told reporters on Sunday that there had been “contacts with the People’s Republic of China because of the high-altitude balloon.” She did not provide any information on who was involved in the contact or what it contained.
First, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin unsuccessfully asked for a meeting with the Chinese Defense Minister. Beijing confirmed on Thursday that it had declined a phone call to Austin following the balloon was launched. “The US’s irresponsible and seriously erroneous approach has not created a suitable atmosphere for dialogue and exchanges between the two armies,” the Chinese Defense Ministry said.
Spy balloon or just weather balloon?
The day-long overflight of the Chinese balloon over the United States had led to a scandal between Washington and Beijing. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled a planned trip to China at short notice. Washington said last week that the downed balloon was one of a fleet of spy balloons that flew across five continents.
After discovering the balloon, China denied the allegation of espionage. Instead, Beijing spoke of a civil balloon for meteorological purposes that had gone off course.
Fourth aircraft shot down over North America
Arne Bartram, ARD Washington, 2/13/2023 12:20 a.m