China appears to have suspended its surveillance balloon program following a major diplomatic incident earlier this year, when one of the country’s high-altitude spy balloons transited the United States, multiple sources familiar with US intelligence assessments told CNN.
US officials believe that Chinese leaders have made a deliberate decision not to launch additional balloons since the one over the US was shot down by American fighter jets in February, the sources said. The US has not observed any new launches since the episode occurred.
The apparent suspension of the program comes as both the US and China have sought to stabilize an increasingly tense relationship. Asked for comment on the balloon program, Chinese embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu told CNN that the February episode was “unexpected” and “isolated.”
I hate defending anyone from that shithole instance that is Lemmygrad… however the most recent interviews from our top generals here in the states say that the balloon after assessment didn’t collect any intel, was actually off the entire time and they suspect that it wasn’t actually meant to be over the states. There’s no doubt it wasn’t a massive balloon, but the story was really over blown because someone saw it, snapped a photo, and the press and social media took off with it.
Here’s the CBS Sunday Morning video about it.
It’s not like as if we here in the states don’t also launch massive balloons, or hell massive amounts of aircraft over others airspace collecting data. Sometimes that data isn’t even for military or surveillance purposes, sometimes it’s dual purpose, and sometimes it’s all military/surveillance.
Don’t let facts get in the way of outrage. This balloon story (among others) will be repeated as justification for whatever actions are taken against China in the future.