The United States Defense systems were tracking yesterday an alleged Chinese surveillance balloon that they had detected over the country’s airspace, flying at high altitude, to the west of the continent. The Pentagon had been following the device for two days. The authorities of the department and the government discussed whether it should be demolished. And, after presenting the available options to President Joe Biden last Wednesday, they decided against doing so in view of the risks of harm to people on the ground.
“Once the balloon was detected, the US government took immediate action to protect against the collection of sensitive information,” Pentagon spokesman Gen. Pat Ryder said. And it is that the object was seen on sensitive sites; including a Montana territory near Malmstrom Air Force Base, which is home to one of the country’s three nuclear missile silo fields.
General Ryder stressed that the balloon was flying at an altitude well above commercial air traffic and posed no military or physical threat to people on the ground.” The spokesman added that “similar balloon activity” has been observed in recent years from surveillance. And he stressed that the necessary measures have always been taken to prevent the devices from collecting sensitive information. Washington also communicated to Beijing “the seriousness of the matter.”
The Pentagon’s announcement coincides with the visit of the Secretary of Defense to the Philippines, where yesterday he signed an agreement so that the US can access four new military bases in the Asian archipelago, in addition to the five where it has already been able to operate for years. The purpose is to gain positions against China given the increase in its pressure in the Indo-Pacific.
The notice about the balloon also comes on the eve of the visit that the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, plans to make this weekend to Beijing, in principle to reduce bilateral tensions.
