I have no clue what you're trying to say in your text, but other countries (namely Canada) did also spot Chinese balloons above their territory. There was also evidence that these balloons had equipment on board that did not line up with what is expected on a weather balloon.
this post was submitted on 14 Feb 2023
0 points (50.0% liked)
World News
31475 readers
760 users here now
News from around the world!
Rules:
-
Please only post links to actual news sources, no tabloid sites, etc
-
No NSFW content
-
No hate speech, bigotry, propaganda, etc
founded 4 years ago
MODERATORS
There was also evidence that these balloons had equipment on board that did not line up with what is expected on a weather balloon.
Do you mind sharing your evidence? Because that's not what was officially reported by the Pentagon. It was reported that it had off-the-shelf components (i.e., exactly what you'd expect on a weather balloon), and didn't collect or transmit anything.
Chinese spy balloon didn’t collect intelligence as it flew over US: Pentagon:
The Chinese spy balloon that was shot down over the Atlantic Ocean in early February was built, at least partly, using American off-the-shelf parts, a U.S. official has confirmed to ABC News. [...] Later Thursday, Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said that the balloon not only did not transmit data back to China -- it never collected any.
You'll note that media still insists on using the phrase "spy balloon" when it was just a weather balloon. They even said as much, and they still use fearmongering phrasing because they know it serves their narrative.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/29/chinese-spy-balloon-shot-information-biden
This article further quotes that Pentagon spokesperson, who specified that the balloon did not send data back to China due to mitigation efforts that the US took.
Additionally, https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinese-balloon-used-american-tech-to-spy-on-americans-2e3f5039 having off the shelf parts does not necessarily mean it was a regular weather balloon. It took photos and videos, potentially of some of the secure areas it just happened to fly over. Note that while this article claims it used US gear, the included Pentagon quotes don't back that claim up, instead saying past balloons used off the shelf US equipment.
I'm not sure if this is correct, but I have heard that the jet stream really only sends balloons on a course from China to the US. Sending balloons the other way around, as China has claimed, entails sending them over a billion people and many different country's airspace.
The US doesn't need to launch them from their own soil
It would still need to send them over territory that is either hostile or neutral.
I love that you say that like the US would never dream of sending stuff over a country without their consent. The US was spying on allies such as top German politicans, they have like ten different spy plane, spy drone, spy shapeship, etc projects currently running that we know about, they invaded friendly Pakistan to get Osama... Do you really think the CIA would pause for a second before flying a balloon over Tajikistan?
I love that you say that like the US would never dream of sending stuff over a country without their consent.
You misinterpret me. Of course US surveillance has a long arm. I'm not denying that. It's less a question of whether they would and more whether they can. For that matter, it doesn't even make that much sense to.
view more: next ›