Somehow a Chinese spy balloon has been allowed over the United States and it was spotted high over Montana yesterday.
This has caused U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to postpone an upcoming trip to Beijing next week:
Earlier, the U.S. announced that Secretary of State Antony Blinken had postponed a planned high-stakes weekend diplomatic trip to China as the Biden administration weighed a broader response to the discovery of a high-altitude Chinese balloon flying over sensitive sites in the western United States.
That abrupt decision came despite China’s claim that the balloon was a weather research “airship” that had blown off course. The U.S. has described it as a surveillance vehicle.
The development came just before Blinken had been due to depart Washington for Beijing and marked a new blow to already strained U.S.-Chinese relations.
The balloon is now over the central U.S. and the Pentagon press secretary had a briefing today that might have raised more questions than it answered.
The Pentagon is providing next to no new information on the Chinese spy balloon. pic.twitter.com/3jOYeIePdV
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 3, 2023
One thing that was made clear is that this isn’t the first time it’s happened (or at least been attempted):
REPORTER: "Is there any way you could give us more details…?"
PENTAGON: "That information is classified…I can confirm that there have been other incidents where balloons did come close to or cross over U.S. territory." pic.twitter.com/2Ac01EVjW6
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 3, 2023
Apparently this was considered something to get snarky about:
REPORTER: "Does the public not have the right to know…?"
PENTAGON: "The public certainly has the ability to look up in the sky and see where the balloon is." pic.twitter.com/3mLU3BQTRQ
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 3, 2023
How long could this go on? Possibly a few days:
Pentagon: Chinese spy balloon will be floating inside the U.S. for another ‘few days’
— Lucas Tomlinson (@LucasFoxNews) February 3, 2023
Oh… OK.
Bizarre-O-World.
Also infuriating.— JayhawkMama (@JHawkintheSouth) February 3, 2023
Uh… Okay? Why exactly are we allowing this?
— Kim Melton (@KimDanielleXOXO) February 3, 2023
More people are asking that question as time goes on.
A literal trial balloon. https://t.co/MKgUjXNIT4
— Caesar Pounce (@caesar_pounce) February 3, 2023
And apparently it’s not the first.
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Related:
Now we know how Trump would have handled the Chinese spy balloon situation
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a Chinese spy balloon and LOL there’s something written on the side
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