F-22 Raptor shoots down Chinese spy balloon navigating US airspace.
Washington:
China has been silencing the US ever since the US sent an F-22 Raptor to shoot down a Chinese spy balloon that entered North American airspace last week. This can be seen in US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s unanswered calls to Beijing, new york post informed of.
According to the New York Post, China’s snub was the latest sign of frayed US communications with its great adversary, sparking fears that a relatively small incident could turn into something much bigger.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken plans to reopen lines of communication with China during his visit to Beijing. However, the trip was postponed after China’s intrusion of spy balloons became public.
So, when the Pentagon asked for a secure call between Austin and his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe, the answer was “no”.
The Chinese Ministry of Defense still refuses to believe that the balloon was carrying out surveillance. The ministry said Austin’s call was rejected because the US “seriously violated international practices and set a very bad precedent” by downing the device, which they claim is a “civilian unmanned aerial vehicle”. which was for scientific research that was shut down due to a “force majeure”. ,
“In view of the irresponsible and seriously erroneous practice of the US side, which failed to create a proper environment for dialogue and exchange between the two militaries, China rejected the US proposal for a phone call between the two defense chiefs,” the ministry said. not accepted.” According to the New York Post, spokesman Senior Colonel Tan Kefei said this on Thursday.
The Washington Post reported that the US intelligence community has linked Chinese spy balloons to a vast surveillance program run by the People’s Liberation Army, and US officials have begun passing on information to allies and partners who have been similarly targeted. Has gone.
According to The Washington Post, the surveillance balloon effort, which for several years partially operated from Hainan province off China’s south coast, has drawn military attention from countries including Japan, India, Vietnam, and areas of emerging strategic interest to China. Collected information about the property. Taiwan and the Philippines, according to several US officials.
According to officials, the surveillance aircrafts operated partly by the PLA Air Force have been spotted across five continents.
One official said: “What the Chinese have done is take an incredibly old technology, and basically combined it with modern communications and observation capabilities to try to gather intelligence on other countries’ militaries. It’s a big effort.”
The New York Times recently reported that, as part of its response to a Chinese spy balloon that crossed US airspace last week, the Joe Biden administration will on Friday (local time) sell some of its technology to several Chinese companies. Locked up aviation and technology. companies.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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