Downed spy balloon, China reserves right to take further actions

| February 5, 2023

China responded to the downing of their spy balloon shortly after it floated over U.S. territorial waters. China posted an official response insisting that the balloon was a civilian aircraft for civilian use and was in U.S. air space as a result of variables out of their control.

The official Chinese statement (Google Translate):

China expresses its strong dissatisfaction and protest against the US’s use of force to attack civilian unmanned airships. The Chinese side has repeatedly informed the US side after verification that the airship is for civilian use and entered the US due to force majeure, which was completely accidental. China clearly requires the US to handle it properly in a calm, professional and restrained manner. A spokesperson for the US Department of Defense also stated that the balloon will not pose a military or personal threat to ground personnel. Under such circumstances, the U.S. insists on using force, obviously overreacting and seriously violating international practice. China will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of relevant companies, while reserving the right to make further necessary reactions.

More information about this post could be found here, here, and here. The last link should be opened with Google Chrome for translation purposes.

Category: Biden, China, Military issues

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5JC

After we exploit it for intel we should cut it into pieces and let the Chinese come pick it up at LAX.

AW1Ed

The civilian owners, right?

Riiiight.

5JC

Oh yeah, the civilian owners that were very concerned about the weather in the US, so much more so than a quick look on Weather.com would provide. Hopefully they will agree to a quick settlement. But the good news is that any military gear onboard is clearly contraband and subject to seizure.

A Proud Infidel®™

My bet is it’s purely full of technology they stole mainly from us!

Anonymous

Oh, yeah, reserve *this* Chicoms!

AW1 Rod

Eat a turd, Dinks!

26Limabeans

I’ll bet if it was manned Biden would clear airspace for it.
Especially if the pilot was a transgender.

Sapper3307

The man of a thousand talents

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Hate_me

We should fine China for trespassing. One count for every single property the balloon overflew, compounded by every state border it crossed.

Knock a few zeroes off that ~$1 trillion in debt we owe them.

Last edited 1 year ago by Hate_me
AW1Ed

With the Air Force all aileron rolls and Air Medals, the nautical services get to pick up the trash.

Navy divers working to recover China spy balloon debris with Coast Guard, Navy ships on site
The US shot down the balloon less than 12 miles off the South Carolina coast

Navy divers are working to recover debris from the suspected Chinese spy balloon the U.S. shot down off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday.
U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships arrived to the site where the balloon hit the water on Saturday before establishing a perimeter around the area. Pentagon officials say the recovery effort is expected to be relatively easy thanks to the shallow depth of just under 50 feet, but it could still take days.

Fox News

KoB

“…the right to make further necessary reactions.” ’bout ready to say, “I wish a muther fu@ker would”. Bring it, Joe Chinaman, and let’s get this shit show over with. Your nukes will EMP the US and take out some big cities, but our nukes will vaporize your whole country. Not that the Chinese Communists give a rat’s ass about their population, other than to work as slaves to keep them in power. Hmmm, sounds like what our (s)elected officials are doing to us.

Other than having a years worth of my meds, I’m good to go. And done made a deal with my pharmacist to get what I need when the balloon (see what I did there) goes up.

prezzy sniffy creepy is bought and paid for, has been for years. He ain’t gonna do squat except bloviate and posture for the cameras. Our worthless Kongress Klown Kritters need to thow that worthless grifting POS, AND, his ho vp, onto the dust bins of history and restore the American Republic. Yeah, that ain’t gonna happen either.

USAFRetired

Send them the bill for the JP-8 and the missile expended.

Anna Puma

The EP-3C that PLAAF fighter hit was also ‘civilian.’

Two can play the word game Beijing.

KoB

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Deckie

Funniest thing about it is it’s true.

I’m sure Joe hung up and promptly relayed the word to General “I’ll give you a heads up before we do anything” Milley… or is it spelled Mi Lee? Mi Li? Who even knows anymore.

A Proud Infidel®™

Yeah right, it’s finally okay to take that damn thing down AFTER it has flown over our Nuke Missile facilities, oooookay. I’m betting the conversation went sump’n like this:
Chinese: We velly upet you destloy peopre’s barroon!
Joe Biden: Wwell uhhhm, I uhhm, had to make it look like I wasn’t some wimp uuuhhm just letting you guys get what you paid me for uhhhm …

David

Me, I’m thinking the reason we waited so long to shoot it down was to make the wreckage hard to get. Had they brought it down by shooting holes in its balloon bag (say, with the F-22’s Vulcan) a soft landing and minimal debris field would have happened. Instead, they used an explosive missile over water creating a large debris field of smaller bits. Change my mind.

Fyrfighter

Would love to argue with you, but can’t find a single reason to refute a word of it.. and the pic above is likely spot on as to the lead up to shooting it down.

Skippy

I’m at a loss on this

5JC

And Mattis denies every bit of it.

Pitting Mattis against a retired Green Beret Colonel is not an enviable position. Mattis seems pretty certain it didn’t happen though. I’d be interested in hearing Waltz’s source for his information. Unless it was the SOCOM Family Support Group I’m throwing a BS flag. The FSG always knows everything.

The big problem I have with Waltz’s story is that he didn’t take office until a few days AFTER Mattis was already out of office. So it seems very unlikely he would have had a first hand account of what he is saying.