Chinese spy balloon incident was a "operation gone bad," according to a former CIA official
Chinese spy balloon
He explains that when an intelligence operation goes wrong, there are classic steps that follow, such as denying any wrongdoing and attributing it to a mistake or technical error.
He speculates that the Chinese may have used the balloon because of its greater collection capabilities, as part of their "Wolf Warrior" diplomacy policy of pushing any issue they deem to be in their national interest.
He also mentions that the U.S. government approached the Chinese and asked them to stop this operation, which resulted in the Chinese denying any wrongdoing and attributing it to an errant weather balloon.
The speaker compares this incident to a similar incident in the 1960s when a U.S. spy plane was shot down and initially blamed on a meteorological research error.
He speculates that the Chinese may have used the balloon because of its greater collection capabilities, as part of their "Wolf Warrior" diplomacy policy of pushing any issue they deem to be in their national interest.
He also mentions that the U.S. government approached the Chinese and asked them to stop this operation, which resulted in the Chinese denying any wrongdoing and attributing it to an errant weather balloon.
The speaker compares this incident to a similar incident in the 1960s when a U.S. spy plane was shot down and initially blamed on a meteorological research error.
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Information About the Suspected Chinese Spy Balloon
Reports that a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon recently entered U.S.
airspace have raised national security and diplomatic concerns, even leading
to the postponement of Secretary of State Antony Blinken's trip to China.
The balloon is believed to be collecting information on U.S. communications
systems and radars, and could relay that data in real time to China via a
satellite link (Source 2).
The Pentagon has completely rejected China's claim that the balloon is for
civilian research purposes. As such, shooting down the balloon is not
considered worth the risk at this time; however, other actions could be
taken in the future if deemed necessary after risk assessments have been
conducted.
President Joe Biden
was briefed
on the matter on Tuesday and has been receiving updates from his national
security team throughout. In addition, authorities are already recognizing
this act as a clear violation of our sovereignty as well as international
law, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announcing that the Gang of
Eight will be briefed next week on how it violated U.S. airspace.
China must explain these actions or face dire consequences if they repeat them in the future.
Finally, Ryder also stated that while there are reports of a Chinese
surveillance balloon currently flying over Latin America, there is no
evidence to date that it is currently headed toward the Americas.