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Balloon launch by the USA – Beijing accuses Washington of “overreacting”.

2023-02-05T06:18:58.046Z


For days, a suspected Chinese spy balloon flew over US territory, on Saturday US fighter jets shot it down over the Atlantic. The government in Beijing is angry – and wants to reserve “necessary reactions”.


Enlarge image

The alleged spy balloon crashes after being launched over the Atlantic in the US state of South Carolina

Photo: RANDALL HILL / REUTERS

The US military shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon after days of observation.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin confirmed on Saturday (local time) that US fighter jets, on the instructions of US President Joe Biden, had crashed "the surveillance balloon belonging to the People's Republic of China" off the Atlantic coast of South Carolina.

The US accused China of spying on the balloon.

Beijing protested against the "obvious overreaction" on Sunday and again rejected the allegations.

Colombia, meanwhile, informed about the entry of an object with "similar properties to a balloon" in its airspace.

Biden told reporters on Saturday that he had given the order to launch the balloon over the United States several days ago.

As early as Wednesday, when he was informed about the balloon, he ordered the flying object to be shot down "as quickly as possible".

A risk for the people on the ground should be ruled out.

Therefore, it was decided to shoot down the flying object only over the sea but within US sovereign territory.

Launching the balloon over land would have been too dangerous due to the size and height of the balloon and its load, Secretary of Defense Austin said.

China tried to use the balloon to monitor strategic locations on the US mainland, he stressed.

He spoke of an "unacceptable violation" of US sovereignty.

Several Republicans, including former US President Donald Trump, had called for the balloon to be shot down.

China accuses the United States of a "serious violation" of international practices

The Chinese government expressed its "strong dissatisfaction" with the US use of force against a "civilian unmanned airship".

It is a "serious violation" of international practices.

China reserves the right to "necessary reactions," said a foreign ministry spokesman in Beijing.

China had repeatedly informed the US that the balloon was for civilian purposes and had flown over the US "by force majeure, which was completely accidental."

The Pentagon itself said the balloon posed no threat to the military or people on the ground.

After the launch, a senior Pentagon official said recovery of the balloon was now in full swing.

"I don't know how long it will be," he said.

The wreckage is in relatively shallow water, which would make recovery "pretty easy."

The balloon had been observed and tracked for some time.

He appeared over Alaska on January 28th, over Canada on January 30th and over the US state of Idaho on January 31st.

During its overflight, the US took immediate steps to prevent the balloon from collecting sensitive information and diminishing its intelligence value to China, it said.

At no time did the balloon pose a threat to civil aviation in the United States.

The USA hopes to get more information about the mission from the recovery of the devices on board.

The damage to the intelligence service is considered to be rather small, it said.

The Pentagon had already made the sighting of the balloon public on Thursday evening.

Among other things, it was sighted in the US state of Montana near a US air force base, where ICBMs equipped with nuclear warheads are stored.

On Saturday, eyewitnesses reported seeing the balloon in the eastern US state of North Carolina.

TV images and videos from eyewitnesses showed how the white balloon was hit in the air on Saturday afternoon and crashed.

Colombia reports an unknown object has entered its airspace

In response to the incident, US Secretary of State Blinken canceled his visit to Beijing, which was originally expected for Sunday.

He described the balloon's entry into US airspace as "unacceptable" and "irresponsible."

China, on the other hand, spoke of a research balloon that had gone off course due to “force majeure”.

After the incident was initially "regretted" in an unusually defensive manner, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman went on the offensive: "Some politicians and media in the US have used the situation to attack and discredit China."

It would have been the first visit by a US Secretary of State to China since 2018.

According to media reports, Blinken should also have been received by China's head of state and party leader Xi Jinping.

Although the expectations of the visit were not high, there were hopes that it would calm the turbulent and difficult relations.

Blinken underlined on Friday that the United States wanted to keep the communication channels to Beijing open and that the visit should be made up for soon "if conditions allow".

Meanwhile, Colombia has now also informed about an unknown object that has entered its airspace and has "similar properties to a balloon".

On the morning of February 3, the national air defense system discovered an object at an altitude of around 17,000 meters over the northern sector of the country, the Colombian air force said on Saturday (local time).

It presented "no threat to national security."

The Air Force is now working with other countries to determine the origin of the object.

Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said in Washington on Friday that another possible spy balloon was hovering over Latin America.

Initially, there was no information about the second balloon from Beijing.

Balloons are considered important observation platforms.

Their use is not unusual.

Unlike satellites, they can stay in one place and don't have to make a new orbit around the earth to take more pictures, experts say.

You could observe from a closer distance, are difficult to detect for radar.

They could also intercept communications.

The navigation options are significantly improved today, so that they no longer depend solely on the wind.

hen/dpa

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2023-02-05

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