America shoots down the Chinese “espionage balloon”.

Yesterday, the US military shot down a Chinese balloon suspected of carrying out espionage, something Beijing denies. This came shortly after President Joe Biden announced that his country would “take care of the balloon,” referring to his giving the army the green light to shoot it down.

It was reported that an American fighter shot down the balloon over the waters of the Atlantic Ocean after it crossed the state of North Carolina, which witnessed the closure of 3 of its airports during its passage through its airspace. The balloon entered the United States from the western coast of the Pacific Ocean, where it passed through the state of Alaska, then over Canada, before arriving in the state of Montana, which includes nuclear missile silos. Amid the noise raised by this balloon over the United States, a Pentagon spokesman said: “We are aware of reports of a balloon flying over Latin America. We consider that the matter is related to another Chinese spy balloon.” It is noteworthy that relations between Washington and Beijing were poised for modest progress, especially after the Biden-Xi summit last November, the contacts and delegations that the two countries exchanged, and with the scheduled visit of the US Secretary of State. Anthony Blinken to Beijing, and the “spy balloon” came to return things to square one, after Blinken canceled his visit. Beijing issued a rare statement expressing “regret” and blaming the “wind” for pushing what it described as a civilian balloon into US airspace. While the Pentagon described the balloon as a tool for “gathering intelligence.”
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