By Eva Fu
February 3, 2023 Updated: February 3, 2023
A second Chinese spy balloon is currently
traversing Latin America, Pentagon confirmed late on Feb. 3 amid
rising concern about a Chinese surveillance balloon hovering eastward across the
continental United States.
“We are seeing reports of
a balloon transiting Latin America. We now assess it is another Chinese
surveillance balloon,” Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said
in a statement to media outlets.
The comment came hours
after Ryder was pressed at a briefing with
reporters about a Canadian defense ministry statement on Friday that they were
monitoring a “potential second incident,” and whether the United States is
doing the same. Ryder in response referred the question back to the Canadian
authorities.
The first Chinese
balloon, which military officials described to be a “high altitude surveillance
balloon,” appeared earlier this week above the state of Montana, home to one of
the country’s three nuclear missile silo fields.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday postponed a trip to Beijing that would have marked the highest profile U.S. visit to China over the balloon, calling the balloon “irresponsible” and “a clear violation of U.S. sovereignty and international law.”
“[China’s] decision to
take this action on the eve of my planned visit is detrimental to the
substantive discussions that we were prepared to have,” he told reporters.
The Department of Defense
wouldn’t confirm the balloon’s exact location, its size, and other details on
Friday other than saying that the balloon is maneuverable, has changed course
at some point, and that it is currently flying at 60,000 ft eastward across the
country.
President Joe Biden was
first briefed on the matter on Tuesday, White House press secretary Karine
Jean-Pierre said on Jan. 3, and was given the “strong recommendation” by
military leaders not to shoot it down due to the risk that falling debris may
harm civilians.
A senior defense official
said the U.S. has taken unspecified mitigation measures against the balloon,
adding that it was assessed that the device had “limited additive value from an
intelligence collection perspective over and above what [China] can do through
other means.”
The Chinese regime has
claimed that the balloon over the United States is a civilian meteorological
balloon from China that was blown off course. In response, Ryder said, “The
fact is we know it’s a surveillance balloon.”
Costa Rica Reports
Ryder didn’t specify
which country the balloon is currently hovering over, but local reports have
cited sightings of a white balloon of mysterious origin over Costa Rica, which
the country’s civil aviation authorities said doesn’t have a fly authorization.
“My big concern with the
Chinese balloon flight is if this is a test to see how fast we react and what
we do,” Art Thompson, CEO of California-based company Sage Cheshire Aerospace
which provides stratospheric balloon launching and research services, told The
Epoch Times.
The two balloons appear
to have been launched from different locations, he said. The photos Thomson
examined of the two balloons, over the United States and Costa Rica, show that
they are very similar in style.
“When I look at the
trajectory, the question is, where did they launch it from? And it could have
been launched from mainland China, and then just drifted over and would have
done a little oscillation in its flight,” he said.
Thompson has advocated for the United States to
shoot down the balloon currently moving eastward over the nation with laser
weapons. He believes that U.S. authorities still have several days to take
action before the balloon reaches international waters, but the one over Costa
Rica would have a much shorter timeline.
“It’s going to be out of
touch fairly quickly because in Costa Rica, they’re going to be across into the
gulf pretty fast,” he said.
“The Chinese are
definitely testing us and preparing for something.”
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