Remains of the Chinese balloon shot down on February 4 off the coast of South Carolina / AFP
What began with the downing of a Chinese balloon that had entered US airspace without permission has led to a succession of mysterious “flying objects” and a new factor of international tension.
The United States Department of Defense is currently unaware of the origin of the three devices shot down in the last three days in the US and Canada and cannot yet confirm whether they are Chinese, as was the spy balloon shot down on February 4.
China assured yesterday that American balloons flew over the Asian country at least ten times during the last year and that it is common for this to happen. The fact is that whether they are balloons or not, these objects have become a new factor of crisis between the US and China.
THE “SPY” BALLOON
On February 2, the US Pentagon reported that it had detected a Chinese spy balloon flying over its territory at a high altitude that posed “no military or physical risk” to anyone on the surface, noting that it was not the first time. who observed the activity of balloons of this type in recent years.
The sighting of the balloon caused the suspension of the trip to Beijing that the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, had planned, since the US considered the presence of the device as an “unacceptable” violation of sovereignty and international law.
On February 4, the US shot down the “spy balloon” and its remains fell into the sea, where they were collected by the US authorities. China expressed deep “dissatisfaction and protested that Washington “overreacted” by using force to bring down the “spy balloon”. And he assured that it was “a civil airship used for research purposes, mainly meteorological”, which deviated from its course.
In this context, the spokesman for the White House National Security Council, John Kirby, assured that, in the presidency of Donald Trump (2017-2021), at least three Chinese balloons flew over the United States.
Subsequently, the Biden administration accused the Beijing government of working for years on a spy balloon “program” that has already flown over more than 40 countries on five continents in a plan directly related to the Chinese army.
After the incident with the Chinese balloon, three other unidentified devices have been shot down by the US military, which has not yet been able to confirm whether they are also of Chinese origin.
Last Friday, in fact, the US “dropped” another object of unknown origin that was flying at high altitude in Alaska. The next day, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that an object flying over the Yucon region in northwest Canada had been shot down with US help. Last Sunday, the US flipped another unidentified flying object over Lake Huron in Michigan.
The US acknowledged yesterday that it has not yet identified the three mysterious flying objects that it shot down in recent days – and that they have given rise to all kinds of speculation – and denied that it spies on China with balloons as Beijing claims. The uncertainty is such that the White House spokeswoman, Karine Jean-Pierre, considered it necessary to clarify at the beginning of her daily press conference that she “has no indication of extraterrestrials or extraterrestrial activities.”
