The Chinese spy balloon that flew over the United States and that Washington shot down when it was already suspended over the Atlantic Ocean continues
to strain the relationship between the two powers
.
Now, the authorities revealed
details of the political plot
behind the diplomatic conflict: a call not answered by Beijing, serious accusations from the White House and an operation on the brink of danger.
The aerial device -which was carrying
sophisticated equipment inside-
was sighted in Montana, in the last hours of March.
After days of uncertainty and suspicion, finally on Saturday, February 4,
a missile fired by an F-22 plane brought it down
off the coast of South Carolina, after it crossed the United States territory from northwest to southeast and passed
over several installations .
secret military
.
"The balloon, which was being used by the People's Republic of China in an attempt to
monitor strategic sites
in the continental United States, was shot down over United States territorial waters," Defense Minister Llyod Austin confirmed at the time.
The United States recovered pieces of the Chinese balloon that flew over its territory.
But the enigma still remains about the true purpose of the artifact.
Photo AFP / US NAVY
What came next
aggravated the bond
between the giants.
"China expresses its strong discontent and
protests against the use of force
by the United States to attack an unmanned civil aircraft," was the first
release from the Chinese Foreign Ministry
.
The incident even forced the
suspension of a tour
by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the first by a US secretary since Mike Pompeo visited Xi Jinping in June 2018, in the days of Donald Trump.
Now details of the conflict caused by the Chinese surveillance balloon have become known and
the suspicions
of the United States about the Asian giant have escalated due to the plan that, they affirm in Washington,
they have been deploying for years on the five continents.
They thus point to
a Chinese global surveillance plan.
Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State, canceled a trip to China after the spy balloon incident.
AFP photo
"This is a program that the Chinese have been working on for several years. They (the Chinese) have tried to improve it, they have grown it and they have increased it, all with the goal of
obtaining intelligence
," John said Wednesday. Kirby, one of the White House spokesmen.
He added: "The United States is not the only nation that has been affected by this. And we believe it is important that our partners and allies have information about this."
In recent years, these spy devices "have been sighted in
various countries on five continents
," the spokesman revealed.
Joe Biden himself referred to the conflict in his speech about the State of the Union, which he gave this Tuesday in Congress.
"Make no mistake. As we made clear last week, if China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country," said the president, who was heavily criticized by Republicans.
He objects to his alleged condescension for having waited until the balloon was over the sea to shoot it down.
The call that China did not answer
China insists the balloon was
conducting weather research
, but the Pentagon has described it as a high-tech spy operation.
In this sense, the United States says it has taken measures to prevent the balloon's instruments from collecting confidential information during its flight.
The operation to bring down the device included extreme security measures and the United States
tried to establish communication with China
after disrupting the equipment.
But the
call was not answered.
Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe rejected a call from his US counterpart after the balloon was shot down.
AP Photo
On Saturday "immediately after taking steps to shoot down the PRC balloon, the Department of Defense made a
secure call request
" between Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe, Pentagon spokesman the Pentagon said Tuesday. General Pat Ryder, referring to the People's Republic of China.
"Unfortunately, the PRC rejected our request. Our commitment to open lines of communication will continue," Ryder added.
The entire incident, since the balloon was first seen, was surrounded by
mystery and suspicion
, forcing caution to govern the operation to shoot it down and find its parts in the sea.
Joe Biden's order to abort the Chinese device came only on Saturday, when the unmanned aircraft stopped flying over US land and entered the Atlantic Ocean.
That was the only way to
ensure the safety of people on the ground
, authorities explained.
Now, the US Navy continues with the process of recovering the remains of the balloon at sea.
On Tuesday, that force released four photographs in which its team is seen aboard a semi-rigid boat salvaging
pieces of white cloth and part of the structure of the balloon
destroyed by a missile.
Joe Biden warned China of conflicts with sovereignty, in his State of the Union address.
AFP photo
In the images, with the Navy ship USS Carter Hall in the background, members of Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 are seen handling these elements, a precaution to
protect themselves against the possibility that some part of the globe was filled with explosives
. explained the head of the US Northern Command, General Glen VanHerck.
The photographs were taken last Sunday off Myrtle Beach in South Carolina.
The operation takes place in an area equivalent to "fifteen soccer fields by fifteen soccer fields," VanHerck explained.
A Pathfinder vessel, equipped
with sonar, helps create a map of the area.
US military personnel lift pieces of the downed Chinese balloon from the sea off South Carolina.
Photo AFP US NAVY
What about the globe in Latin America
The device that flew over the United States
was not the only one seen
in recent days.
Just after the conflict over that balloon broke out, the existence of another was reported in the skies of South America.
However, this Wednesday the Pentagon downplayed this second device.
Kirby explained that the Biden government determined that this airship was not "a military threat" to the region, the same conclusion that US intelligence services reached about the Chinese balloon that flew over the United States.
The aircraft -recognized as its own by the Chinese government- was detected over
Costa Rica, Colombia and Venezuela
.
With information from AFP, EFE, AP and Clarín
DS
look also
In a speech to Congress, Biden warned: "If China threatens our sovereignty, we will act."
After the Chinese balloon incident, tension with the US intensifies