Spy balloon invades South America, Chinese spy balloon "fleet" travels across 5 continents

 Research, editing : Gan Yung Chyan, KUCINTA SETIA

News on Colombia, Costa Rica, Venezuela, U.S., CCP, Taiwan

News (1)

Colombian Air Force investigates Colombian airspace violation by "balloon-like object"

  

Image : A balloon-like object appeared in Colombian airspace, and the source is currently being traced. The picture shows the Chinese spy balloon shot down by the United States. (Reuters)

The Chinese spy balloon invaded the sky over the United States and was shot downbut there is still a second one in Latin America. The Colombian Air Force stated that a balloon-like object was found in the airspace on 3 February. Its source is currently being traced.

According to the CNN report, the Colombian Air Force stated that the "balloon-like" object was found at an altitude of 55,000 feet (about 16,700 km) in the northern region in the early morning of 3 February, moving at an average speed of 25 knots (about 46 km per hour).

The Colombian Air Force pointed out that after the national defense system tracked the "balloon", it has now flown out of its airspace. The military is cooperating with other countries and institutions, hoping to confirm the source of the "balloon".

Ref.: https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/world/breakingnews/4201723

News (2)

Costa Rica confirms balloon over capital similar to one shot down by the U.S.

  

The Chinese spy balloon has been destroyed after intruding into the airspace of the United States but a second one has been found in Latin America. Costa Rica confirmed that a "large white observation balloon" flew over the capital San Jose and the appearance is similar to that of the United States.

According to CNN, Fernando Naranjo Elizondo, director of Costa Rica's Civil Aviation Authority, said that a balloon was found flying over the capital San Jose on 2 February 2023, and after investigation, it did not come from China.

Elizondo said authorities had no plans to investigate further as the balloon did not land on Costa Rican territory and had now flown away and disappeared.

Ref.: https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/world/breakingnews/4201715

News (3)

The U.S. military shot down the Chinese balloon. Mingdian: If it is not dealt with, it will soon float over Europe

  

Image : Zheng Mingdian, director of the Bureau of Meteorology, explained that under normal circumstances, the balloon may drift away from the mainland of the United States within two days, but the United States happens to be in a weak wind belt, and it will encounter strong winds after going out to sea. "If you don't deal with it, it will soon float over Europe." . (Reuters)

 The suspected Chinese spy balloon entered the U.S. airspace last week and slowly crossed the U.S. mainland until the afternoon of the 4th local time. Director Zheng Mingdian explained that under normal circumstances, the balloon may drift away from the mainland of the United States within two days. The United States happens to be in a weak wind belt, and it will encounter strong winds after going out to sea. "If you don't deal with it, it will soon float over Europe."

The suspected Chinese spy balloon flew into the airspace of Alaska in the United States on the 28th of last month. After entering the airspace of Canada on January 30, it entered Idaho again the next day and slowly crossed the continental United States. US President Biden ordered the military to shoot down the balloon. At that time, the military considered that the debris might cause harm to the people on the ground, and decided to wait for the balloon to reach the surface of the water before processing it. In the afternoon of the 4th local time, the U.S. military sent fighter jets to shoot down the balloon over the Atlantic Ocean off the east coast of the United States.

The balloon drifted slowly in the airspace of the continental United States, causing concern. Zheng Mingdian, director of the Bureau of Meteorology, explained that under normal circumstances, the westerly wind at high altitudes in mid-latitudes is strong, and the balloon may drift away from the continental United States within two days. Due to the occurrence of "stratospheric warming" , the position of the high-altitude westerly belt has shifted significantly, and the sky over the United States has become a weak wind belt. It will not encounter strong wind until the northeast of the United States, just before going out to sea.

After going out to sea, the wind direction changed and the wind speed became stronger. Zheng Mingdian emphasized: "If you don't deal with it (the balloon) will soon float over Europe."

Ref.: https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/life/breakingnews/4201658

News (4) to (5) / Reporter : Zhang Peiyuan / https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/world/paper/1565296

News (4)

Spy balloon spying on the United States, Blinken criticizes China for violating sovereignty

  

Image : U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called former CCP Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the 3rd, saying that the random entry of Chinese balloons is a clear violation of U.S. sovereignty and international law. (AFP)

The incident of Chinese high-altitude balloons appearing in the sky over the continental United States continued to expand. US Secretary of State Blinken called former Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the 3rd, stating that due to the random entry of Chinese balloons, he decided to postpone his visit to China on the 5th and 6th of this month. It also accused China of violating US sovereignty and violating international law. The U.S. Department of Defense also refuted China's earlier claim that the balloon was strayed into the United States by the wind and was used for meteorological scientific research as a private balloon, firmly believing that it is a controllable "reconnaissance balloon." At the same time, the United States confirmed that it had witnessed a second Chinese reconnaissance balloon passing over Latin America.

News (5)

Blinken called Wang Yi to denounce "irresponsible move"

Blinken said in a call to Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission, that he noticed that China had expressed regret but that this was an "irresponsible act" that undermined the purpose of his visit to China and a "clear violation of U.S. sovereignty" and "violation of international law". He said that it is not appropriate to visit China at this time because the incident is still going on. 

Wang Yi said that China is responsible for abiding by the law and does not accept groundless speculation and hype, and called on both sides to calm down, communicate, avoid misjudgment and manage differences.

The CCP Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued an "Answer to Reporters" on Blinken's delayed visit on the 4th. The content changed from the previous day's calm, and it seemed to return to the style of "Wolf Warriors", criticizing American politicians and media for using the balloon incident to attack and discredit China. When Blinken came to visit, he was also bitter, "Neither China nor the United States has announced any visits. The U.S. side's release of relevant information is the U.S. side's own business, and we respect it."

Second balloon is flying across Latin America

The U.S. Department of Defense pointed out on the 3rd that the balloon is currently flying eastward over the central United States. Based on safety, it was not shot down, but it is continuing to observe and monitor. The balloon is expected to fly to the east coast of the United States as early as the morning of the 4th, and then sail from near North and South Carolina.

On the evening of the 3rd, the U.S. Department of Defense stated that it had received a report that a second balloon was passing through Latin America. It was determined to be another Chinese reconnaissance balloon but did not provide the specific location of the balloon. Earlier media reports said the balloon flew over Costa Rica, Colombia and Venezuela and was not expected to head to the United States.

News (6)

F-22 fighter jets shot down Chinese balloon and called out to pay tribute to World War I Air Force Ace "Balloon Destroyer"

  

Image : The mission callsigns of the F-22 fighter jets are "FRANK01" and "FRANK02", which have meanings and pay tribute to the US World War I Air Force ace "Balloon Destroyer". (Synthesized by Liberty Times)

The suspected Chinese spy balloon entered the U.S. airspace last week and slowly crossed the U.S. mainland until the afternoon of the 4th local time. (AIM-9 Sidewinder), shot down balloons off the east coast of the United States. The mission call signs of these two F-22 fighters are "FRANK01" and "FRANK02", which is also meaningful, paying tribute to the US Air Force ace "Balloon Destroyer" in World War I.

According to comprehensive foreign media reports, in the afternoon of 4 February, the U.S. military sent two F-22 fighter jets to use the latest Sidewinder air-to-air missile AIM-9X to shoot down the suspected Chinese spy balloon over the coast of South Carolina. The call signs are "FRANK01" and "FRANK02" and the U.S. Northern Command confirmed that these call signs are to pay homage to the American ace pilot Frank Luke, Jr. in World War I.

Little Frank Luke was an American ace pilot (Ace, who shot down 5 aircraft pilots) in World War I, the first pilot to receive the Medal of Honor, and a "one-day ace" (Ace who shot down 5 or more aircraft in one day) as one of the pilots shot down 14 German observation balloons and 4 aircraft in World War I. He was known as the "Arizona Balloon Buster". He was shot down by the German army in September 1918 and died in battle.

The U.S. Air Force base "Luke Air Force Base", located 24 km west of Phoenix, Arizona, is named after him.

Image : F-22 fighter jets fired Sidewinder missiles to shoot down the Chinese spy balloon, and their mission call signs pay homage to the American World War I Air Force ace "Balloon Destroyer". (Associated Press)

Image : Little Frank Luke was the ace pilot of the United States in World War I. He was the first pilot to receive the Medal of Honor. He shot down 14 German observation balloons and 4 aircraft in World War I. He was known as the "Arizona Balloon Destroyer". (picture taken from Wiki)

News (7)

Chinese spy balloon 'fleet' travels across 5 continents

  

Image : A senior U.S. defense official says China's fleet of spy balloons has traveled to five continents. (Reuters)

The U.S. military has now shot down a Chinese spy balloon. American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported that a senior defense official pointed out that China has a "fleet" of spy balloons, which have been found over regions in five continents in the past few years, including East Asia, South Asia and Europe.

According to the ABC report, the official said that China has a "fleet" of spy balloons, and another spy balloon flew over Venezuela and Colombia this week.

The purpose of these spy balloons is to gather intelligence and intrude into other countries targeted by the CCP People's Liberation Army, which violates the sovereignty of other countries, the official said. In the past few years, Chinese spies have broken into the sky over five regions, including East Asia, South Asia and Europe.

Image : Twitter Screenshot

Refs.: https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/world/breakingnews/4201631, https://twitter.com/EyeDoc01419134/status/1621826926326185984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1621826926326185984%7Ctwgr%5E4a59a6dcfdcbcbd5a1f4e6510907df2bfc57c95e%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.ltn.com.tw%2Fnews%2Fworld%2Fbreakingnews%2F4201631

News (8)

The CCP’s spy balloons are spread over regions in 5 continents, with collection capsule reconnaissance equipment

Editor : Xia Mingyi / https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2023/02/05/a103642739.html / Image : The Pentagon said on the 3rd that it was tracking a Chinese reconnaissance balloon flying over the continental United States, which attracted attention because it appeared in the land-based nuclear powerhouse of the United States and coincided with the eve of Secretary of State Blinken's visit to China. The picture shows the JY-400 tethered reconnaissance balloon at the 2018 Zhuhai Air Show. (Central News Agency)

After a Chinese spy balloon invaded U.S. airspace and passed a sensitive military site in North America, U.S. fighter jets shot it down on 4 February 2023. A U.S. defense official said China has "a fleet" of such surveillance balloons, including the ones seen in Venezuela and Colombia.

ABC News reported today that a U.S. Department of Defense official pointed out that "all these balloons are part of (China's) balloon fleet, developed for reconnaissance missions, and violated the sovereignty of other countries." "Such activities are usually carried out under the direction of the People's Liberation Army," the official added.

"In the past few years, Chinese balloons have been seen over countries on five regions, including East Asia, South Asia and Europe," the official said.

Senior U.S. officials have pushed back on China's assertion that the balloons are for weather purposes only, saying they are indeed used for reconnaissance. "These balloons are equipped with reconnaissance equipment that is not normally associated with conventional meteorological or civilian research," the official said.

"Another distinguishing feature of these balloons is the metal support suspended from the bottom, on which the collection module equipment and solar panels are located," the officials said.

In addition, the Colombian Air Force confirmed that an object "with balloon-like characteristics" was spotted in the airspace yesterday, CNN reported.

In a statement, the Colombian air force said it was coordinating with other "countries and agencies" to clarify the origin of the balloon. The balloon left Colombian airspace after being tracked by the Colombian defense system.

The Colombian Air Force said in a statement that the object "does not pose a threat to national security, defense or air security," adding that the object appeared early yesterday morning at an altitude of more than 16,000 kilometers in northern Colombia, moving at an average speed of 25 knots.

Costa Rica also confirmed that it had earlier seen a large white observation balloon flying over the capital San Jose, and the appearance of the balloon was similar to the Chinese spy balloon shot down by the United States.

Costa Rica's civil aviation chief, Fernando Naranjo Elizondo, told CNN that the object seen over San Jose on Tuesday did not belong to Costa Rica.

Given that the balloon did not descend into Costa Rican territory, he said there were no plans to investigate further "because that balloon has disappeared".

News (9)

AIM-9X missile shoots down Chinese spy balloon, fragments will be sent to FBI for analysis

Editor : Xia Mingyi / https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2023/02/05/a103642565.html / Image : On 4 February 2023, the CCP spy balloon flying over the United States was shot down by the U.S. military. (Internet video screenshot)

American fighter jets shot down a Chinese spy balloon that invaded the airspace off the coast of South Carolina on 4 February, and the fragments will be sent to the FBI laboratory in Virginia for analysis.

According to reports from Agence France-Presse, Reuters and CNN, the operation to shoot down the balloon was launched this afternoon after the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) temporarily closed the three airports of the Southeast U.S. regions for "national security operations". 

A senior U.S. military official said multiple fighter jets and tankers were involved in the mission, but only one F-22 from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia did the firing. An AIM-9X missile was launched at 2:39 pm.

The AIM-9X is a supersonic, heat-seeking air-to-air missile.

The spy balloon was shot down about 6 nautical miles off the U.S. coast in relatively shallow water that could help recover key parts of Chinese surveillance equipment from the debris in the coming days, officials said.

A Reuters photographer who witnessed the shooting said he saw airflow from fighter planes, and then the Chinese spy balloon was hit, but did not explode, and then the balloon began to fall.

The U.S. side stated that the U.S. military did not immediately take back the equipment of the Chinese reconnaissance balloon.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the U.S. was acting "prudently and lawfully" in response to China's "unacceptable violation of U.S. sovereignty."

U.S. military personnel are currently working to recover balloon fragments from the sea. The recovered debris will be sent to the FBI's Quantico laboratory in Virginia for analysis by FBI experts and various intelligence agencies, according to two people briefed on the matter.

Meanwhile, authorities in Horry County, South Carolina, advised nearby residents not to try to salvage balloon fragments as souvenirs.

"Do not touch, move or remove the debris," Horry County Council said in a Facebook post, adding that the debris was "part of a federal investigation and disrupting the scene may interfere with the investigation" .

The whole controversy erupted on Tuesday, when U.S. officials said they were tracking Chinese "spotting balloons" that had invaded U.S. skies.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled a rare trip to China the next day. He had planned to use his visit to Beijing to control rising tensions in U.S.-China relations.

Although the Chinese side had reservations at first, it later admitted that the "airship" was indeed owned by China and was used for scientific research tasks such as meteorology, and it was accidentally entered the United States due to "force majeure".

The New York Times reported that CCP's foreign ministry announced its "strong dissatisfaction and protest" over the U.S. shooting down of the balloon. China's foreign ministry said in a statement that China had repeatedly told Washington that the balloon was a civilian "airship" and that it "entered the United States entirely by accident."

The CCP Foreign Ministry statement also reiterated that Washington had stated that the balloon would not pose a military threat. "Under the circumstances, the U.S. insisted on using force, an obvious overreaction and a serious violation of international practice." "China will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of relevant companies, while reserving the right to make further necessary reactions," the statement said.

News (10)

The spy balloon has a high CP value. Cao Yaxue: The CCP finished performing the "China Threat Theory" in 4 days

The founder of the "Change China" website, Yaxue Cao, only came to Taiwan for 30 days in November 2022. On 5 February, she also expressed her views on the invasion of the United States by Chinese spy balloons. Cao said that in the past 4 days, China has directly shown Americans what the "China Threat Theory" is, and the effect is 10,000 times higher than that of the US government and politicians. , the entertainment value is also high.

Cao Yaxue wrote in a Twitter PO post that this is a letter of thanks to the PRC (People's Republic of China). In the past 4 days, China's major TV stations, major print media, and social media in the United States have shown Americans most intuitively what the "China Threat Theory" is, the effect is 10,000 times stronger than that of the US government, any political party, and Congress.

Cao Ya learned sourly. This Chinese spy balloon invasion of the United States also has entertainment value, which is more exciting than the movie. Moreover, after China played the China threat theory, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs also presented an acrobatic show of splashing and rolling.

Ref.: https://ec.ltn.com.tw/article/breakingnews/4202024

News (11)

Overturn! The spy balloon was shot down and CCP became angry. Global Times retweeted the military statement and was choked

  

Image : CCP Defense Ministry spokesman Tan Kefei spoke out on 5 February against the US shooting down a Chinese spy balloon. (Associated Press)

The Chinese spy balloon violated the airspace of the United States, and the U.S. military dispatched fighter jets to shoot it down. The CCP’s mouthpiece, Global Times, on 5 February 2023 reposted the CCP Defense Ministry’s statement of protest against the U.S. shooting down of am unmanned Chinese aircraft.

The U.S. military dispatched F-22 fighter jets on 4 February to shoot down a Chinese spy balloon with an AIM-9X air-to-air missile over the Atlantic Ocean near the coast of Carolina. CCP Ministry of National Defense Spokesperson Tan Kefei criticized Washington today, saying that the US's use of force to attack China's "civilian unmanned airship" is an "obvious overreaction." CCP expresses solemn protest against this and reserves the right to "use necessary means to deal with similar situations."

Global Times retweeted the statement of the CCP Ministry of National Defense through Twitter this afternoon, and foreign netizens immediately commented, "Today, if you change to an American balloon and fly into your Chinese airspace, how will you react? Don't jump there then." Protest", "Just listen to China's warning", "If it is purely for civilian use, why is your Ministry of National Defense jumping out to condemn it? There are ghosts in your mind?", "Aircraft for scientific purposes have to be notified to other countries before they fly to other countries. Granted, you China violated international law first, and the balloon was shot down just fine", "I have never seen such a rogue and unreasonable country".

Ref.: https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/world/breakingnews/4201986

News (12)

U.S. shoots down CCP balloon, legislator Wang Dingyu: Taiwan also needs countermeasures

Reporters : Hu Zonghan and Zhao Tingyu / https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2023/02/05/a103642967.html

The CCP spy balloon was shot down by the US military. Taiwan's legislators pointed out that this incident is also a national security issue that Taiwan must consider.

The Chinese spy balloon flew into the airspace of the United States, and the U.S. military sent F-22 fighter jets to shoot it down.

U.S. President Joe Biden (2023.02.04): "I ordered the Pentagon to shoot it down as soon as possible on Wednesday. They managed to shoot it down when they got over the water we still had access to."

Shu Xiaohuang, a scholar at the National Defense Security Research Institute of Taiwan, pointed out that the reconnaissance balloon floats in the stratosphere, which is difficult for fighter jets to reach. It is a national security issue that Taiwan must consider.

Wang Dingyu, convener of the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee of the Legislative Yuan: "If the CCP takes such actions against Taiwan, how should we respond? The attacker can use balloons for espionage. In fact, the defender can also use balloons to manufacture aircraft in a certain airspace. Difficult, so some scholars and experts proposed to arrange balloons at the mouth of the Tamsui River to prevent low-altitude cruise missiles or aircraft from entering our capital circle. When facing the enemy's invasion, will releasing such balloons have the same effect? I think we will The Ministry of Defense is required to carry out relevant research."

Su Ziyun, director of Taiwan's Institute of National Defense Strategy and Resources, also pointed out that similar floating air balloons have the advantages of low cost and long-term stay in the air. In terms of defense operations, Taiwan should develop and deploy airspace as an early warning aid, and even become a communication relay. Works in wartime.

News (13)

Trump denies Pentagon claims of spy balloons on his watch as US admits one crashed in Pacific last year

Reporter : Jesse O'Neill / https://nypost.com/2023/02/05/trump-denies-any-chinese-spy-balloons-under-his-watch/

Former President Donald Trump said Sunday that China “respected us greatly” during his term. Image : AFP via Getty Images

Pentagon officials say three Chinese spy balloons flew into US territory under former President Trump’s watch — a claim he denied Sunday — and that another crashed off Hawaii four months ago.

Fox News said Sunday that it had confirmed at least one spy balloon did fly over parts of Texas and Florida while Trump was in office.

The US military was forced to shoot down another Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday.

As critics of Biden bash him for waiting several days to take out the most recent spy balloon as it drifted across the country, Trump denied to Fox News Digital on Sunday that any such apparatuses ever made it over the US under his watch.

“This never happened. It would have never happened,” Trump said, claiming Beijing “respected us greatly” during his term.

“And if it did, we would have shot it down immediately,” he added, while blaming “incompetent” Biden officials for spreading “disinformation” about any balloons in US air space under the Republican former president’s time in office.

The claims by Trump, who is running for president again, were echoed by his former national security adviser, John Bolton.

“I don’t know of any balloon flights by any power over the United States during my tenure, and I’d never heard of any of that occurring before I joined in 2018,” Bolton told Fox. “I haven’t heard of anything that occurred after I left, either.”

Bolton called on the Biden administration to “tell Congress” if they have “specific examples.”

Robert O’Brien, who succeeded Bolton in the role in 2019, also told the outlet he had no knowledge of a similar incident during his tenure.

“Unequivocally, I have never been briefed on the issue,” O’Brien said.

Other top officials in the Trump administration also seemed to think the claims are full of hot air.

“If a balloon had come up, we would have known. Someone in the intelligence community would have known, and it would have bubbled up to me to brief the president,” former acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell said.

Former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe added to Fox’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” “It’s not true — I can refute it.

“The American people can refute it for themselves,” he said. “Do you remember during the Trump administration, when photographers on the ground and commercial airline pilots were talking about a spy balloon over the United States that people could look up and see, even with the naked eye, and that a media that hated Donald Trump wasn’t reporting?” 

Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia Heino Klinck added, “I can’t rule out that things occurred that I was unaware of, but I do think something like this, I would have been aware of.”

Ex-Defense Secretary Mark Esper also said the claim is inflated.

“I don’t ever recall somebody coming into my office or reading anything that the Chinese had a surveillance balloon above the United States,” Esper told CNN. “I would remember that for sure.”

The Pentagon did not respond to the outlet for comment, and it was possible that military officials chose not to brief civilian officials on the purported balloon sightings under Trump, the article noted.

The Pentagon on Saturday said officials waited until the latest balloon was over water to shoot it down with a military jet.

The balloon had first entered American airspace between Russia and Alaska on Jan. 28 and breached the continental US on Tuesday.

China claimed the balloon was for meteorological research and had accidentally flown into US airspace, down through Canada, into Idaho, and across the entire country.

Chinese officials said Saturday that shooting the balloon down was an “excessive reaction” and that the country “retains the right to respond further.”

Federal officials were scouring a 7-mile swatch of the Atlantic for the remains of the orb, which was soaring at a height of 66,000 feet when it was shot down by fighter jets.

News (14)

Rubio says China purposely sent balloon to show US in 'decline'

Reporter : Mark Moore / https://nypost.com/2023/02/05/rubio-china-purposely-sent-balloon-to-show-us-in-decline/ / Image of Rubio : Getty Images

Sen. Marco Rubio (above), the ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Sunday that China intentionally flew a spy balloon over the United States to send the message that America is in “decline.”

“They did this on purpose. They understood that it was going to be spotted, they knew the US government would have to reveal it, that people were going to see it over the sky. And the message they were trying to send is what they believe internally, and that is that the United States is a once-great superpower that’s hollowed out, it’s in decline,” the Florida pol said on ABC News’ “This Week.”

Rubio rejected China’s excuse that the balloon was a “civilian aircraft” which had flown off course, adding that the Biden administration’s decision to initially keep quiet about the object after it entered US airspace and not shoot it down until it was off the East Coast played right into China’s intentions.

“The message [China] is trying to send the world is, ‘Look, these guys can’t even do anything about a balloon flying over US airspace,’ ” Rubio told host Jonathan Karl.

“How can you possibly count on [the Democratic White House] if something were to happen in the Indo-Pacific region? How can you count on them if they’re not going to do anything about a balloon over US airspace? How are they going to come to the aid of Taiwan or stand with the Philippines or Japan or India when the Chinese move on their territory?'” he asked.

Two US Air Force fighter jets downed the balloon Saturday afternoon off the South Carolina coast, after it had already sailed at around 60,000 feet across the country and flew over a number of military installations since being first spotted near the Aleutian Islands in Alaska on 28 January.

Rubio said he wants to hear an explanation from the Biden administration on why the balloon was not knocked out of the sky sooner.

“I’d love to hear from military officials about why wasn’t it addressed earlier,” Rubio said. “What were the options at that point? Maybe in a closed session, or maybe with the benefit of hindsight, they’ll have some real good arguments about why it couldn’t be done.”

Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), chair of the House Intelligence Committee, also blasted the White house for what he called a lack of “urgency” in dealing with the Chinese balloon, telling NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday that it should have been brought down immediately when it entered US airspace in Alaska.

Turner said the path of the balloon took it over major US missile defense and nuclear weapons facilities and he believes that the Chinese were trying to gain information on “how to defeat the command and control” of America’s most sensitive military systems.

“That’s a crisis that certainly should have had an urgency to the president and not just wait until this gets to the Atlantic to take it down,” he said.

President Biden said Saturday that he gave the order to shoot down the balloon, which was described as being as big as three buses, on Wednesday when media reports revealed people had seen it in the sky over Montana but was advised by the Pentagon to wait until it was over water to protect people on the ground.

Turner said, “There are no excuses here.

“They knew what this was. They know what the balloon is, what its capabilities, maneuverability is from having observed previous actions by China,” Turner said.

“They should have been prepared. They seem not only to be unprepared but to even be waiting: ‘Where is the balloon going to go? What are they trying to do?’ But that’s not how you look at the actions of an adversary,” he said.

A senior Defense Department official told reporters in a briefing Saturday that the military collected intelligence on the balloon and assessed that it had no more capability to gather information than China could already obtain from satellites.

As the US waited for the object to get over the Atlantic,  “we also took immediate steps to protect against the balloon’s collection of sensitive information, mitigating its intelligence value to the PRC,” the official said, referring to the People’s Republic of China.

“Shooting the balloon down addressed the surveillance threat posed to military installations and further neutralized any intelligence value it could have produced, preventing it from returning to the PRC,” the official said.

“In addition, shooting the balloon down could enable the US to recover sensitive PRC equipment,” the official continued.

But Turner said Sunday, “Clearly, the president taking it down over the Atlantic is sort of like the quarterback, sort of like tackling the quarterback after the game is over.

“The satellite had completed its mission,” he said.

News (15)

American think tank expert: WeChat is also a Trojan horse and should be completely banned

Editor : He Yating / https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2023/02/05/a103643017.html / Image : The logo of Chinese messaging platform WeChat is shown on a laptop. (Peter Parks/AFP via Getty Images)

 An expert from the Hudson Institute, an American think tank, wrote an article pointing out that, like TikTok, WeChat is also a "Trojan horse" of the CCP government, and its danger to the national security of the United States Even bigger than TikTok, Washington should ban WeChat at the same time as TikTok is ordered to be banned.

The American financial magazine Forbes recently published an article written by Arthur L. Herman, an expert at the Hudson Institute, which issued the above warning to Washington.

It is understood that Herman said in this article that the international version of TikTok, an audio-visual software from China, "Douyin", has now been ordered to be banned in various states in the United States, and another social software in China, WeChat, is actually the same as "TikTok". Trojan horses are as dangerous. Because WeChat can allow the Chinese government to directly obtain the data of American users, WeChat poses an even greater danger to the national security of the United States than TikTok.

The article stated that WeChat currently has more than 1.2 billion users worldwide. In addition to the vast majority of users living in China, WeChat also has about 1.5 million US users, 1.3 million UK users and 600,000 Australian users. However, WeChat does not really protect user privacy. The software has a systematic back door, allowing the CCP officials to read messages sent or received by WeChat users. WeChat, on the other hand, can collect the personal information of more than a billion users, and all of them are controlled by its parent company, Tencent. If the Chinese government wants certain data of WeChat users, including the data of users in the United States and other countries, it will be at their fingertips.

The article pointed out that an important difference between overseas WeChat users and Chinese domestic users is that domestic Chinese users are very aware that the government can monitor all the information you write, post and share on WeChat, so it can remove official illegal content in the shortest possible time. favorite content; but most foreign users do not know this danger. Therefore, many foreign users may become "assistants" who threaten the local government or national security without knowing it.

Herman believes that the U.S. government should call for a complete ban on the use of WeChat. This will not only protect the personal data security of Americans, but also protect the personal data of those Chinese living and studying in the United States, and help them escape the "Chinese Communist Party" created by the CCP's dictatorship. The monitoring of the "Digital Great Wall" and get rid of its ideological control.

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Hu Xinyu's case recently revealed that the granary is the live harvesting base and the first scene

Reporter : Li Li / Editor : Lin Qing / https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2023/02/04/a103642366.html /Image : An insider broke the news that Hu Xinyu was killed at the Qianshan Grain Depot and had his organs harvested. (Network Diagram)

The disappearance of 15-year-old student Hu Xinyu in Jiangxi has attracted national attention. Under the tsunami of public opinion, although the Jiangxi police finally determined that Hu Xinyu committed suicide, public doubts have not dissipated, and the public is still focusing on the CCP's organ harvesting activities.

Recently, an insider broke the news on the Internet that Hu Xinyu was killed and had his organs harvested at the Qianshan Granary, and revealed that many people had been killed and their organs harvested in this remote granary that had been de-registered many years ago.

Zhao Lanjian, a former media person who was persecuted by the CCP for paying attention to the case of the Iron Chain Woman, retweeted a revelation on 4 February 2023. The whistleblower said that seeing the official news release of Hu Xinyu's case, "the acting is too unreliable". I couldn't be angry, so I came out and reported it.

News (17)

The de-registered granary was exposed

According to reports, the official registered name of this granary is "Central Reserve Grain Hengfeng Direct Warehouse Co., Ltd. Qianshan Branch", and the specific address is at No. 217 Ehu Avenue, Qianshan Hekou. In fact, it was officially de-registered as early as 20 September 2017. Moreover, more than 40 staff members of the granary bought out their seniority and were "retired", which means early retirement.

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Ex-employees of the de-registered granary desperate for jobs engage in debt collection, kidnapping debtors before they turn to organ harvesting

The person who broke the news said that although the company as the national granary was canceled, for some reason, assets such as venues, factories and cars have not been auctioned or transferred. There are also a few staff who have not been "cleared", and a few more people have been recruited. So far, fifteen or six people have "worked" here. These people drive out every day.

Image : Network screenshot

The news also claimed that since 2017, these people from Qianshan Granary (Work) have seized and kidnapped debtors for the boss of the online loan, forcing them to sell their human organs to repay the loan. There are many debtors who have been detained here, some were released after paying their debts, and some were killed.

The person who broke the news said that it is "very convenient" to kill people in the granary, because "there are walls, cars, people, fields, and woods here, completely isolated from the outside world."

News (19)

School principal joined nearby forces to start harvesting and selling organs

Later, the principal and his wife of Zhiyuan Middle School, where Hu Xinyu studied, also contributed capital to join the people in the Granary but because the authorities cracked down on online loans, these people in the granary stopped doing debt collection "businesses". The principal of Zhiyuan Middle School joined forces with nearby schools and some companies to start harvesting and selling organs.

The person who broke the news said, "There are officials in Qianshan and Shangrao who have lent money to buy shares, and of course there are officials in the Public Security Bureau who also participated in it." "In short, the Yanshan Granary has been engaged in kidnapping, detention, and live organ harvesting in the past few years."

News (20)

Teacher instructed Hu Xinyu to be handed over to the granary for organic harvesting

The whistleblower also revealed that on the night of his disappearance, Hu Xinyu was called out by the class teacher and handed over to these people in the granary, who drove Hu Xinyu to the granary. That night, Hu Xinyu's organs were harvested alive. After the organs were harvested, the corpse was kept in a large freezer in the Qianshan Granary. Why keep it? The person who broke the news explained that the bodies of other people who were harvested alive before were disposed of at that time, either by burning or burying them.

However, because Hu Xinyu's blood type is quite special, "there are other things (organs) that can be sold, and we are negotiating a good price with the buyer", so Hu Xinyu's body has not been disposed of. Later, because there was too much commotion on the Internet, the county officials asked him to keep (the corpse) for now, and "dispose of it when we find an opportunity."

Image : Network screenshot

On 31 January, the Mainland China Netease website published an "independent commentator" "Hu Xinyu Incident Puzzle: Thousands of searchers encountered "ghosts hit the wall"? "In the article, the article mentioned, "What kind of special unit is this 'granary'? The information that can be found shows that the full name of 'granary' is 'Central Reserve Grain Shangrao Directly under the Storage of Yanshan Branch Co., Ltd.', the company was approved for business cancellation on 20 September 2017".

The article also stated that, in other words, this is an abandoned grain depot. Even if it is reported on the Internet that "a dozen or so people go to work on weekdays", they may just be "staying behind" or "watching the home".

The above information is consistent with the information on some grain depots disclosed above.

On 30 January 2023, Henan Business Daily-Top News once published the article "Hu Xinyu's body suspected to be found in the corner of the granary? Local: subject to the official notification". The contact number is empty. The Propaganda Department of the Qianshan County Party Committee responded that everything is subject to the official notification.

On 7 December 2022, NetEase's "New Farmers Farming" article "Follow-up to the "Hu Xinyu Disappearance Incident": Zhiyuan Middle School's "black history" was picked up, and four people disappeared in four years" said that after Hu Xinyu disappeared, some netizens discovered that Hu is not the first missing person in the school. From 2019 to 2022, in just 4 years, 4 people disappeared or jumped off the building in Qianshan Zhiyuan Middle School. The specific missing person is 2019. In 2021, a female teacher from other places disappeared mysteriously, and there is no news so far; in July 2022, student Ding Jiaying fell from a building for unknown reasons; in October 2022, Hu Xinyu disappeared.

News (21)

There is also a spy balloon in Latin America! The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China used this reason again to excuse

Editor : Zhou Zixin / https://news.tvbs.com.tw/world/2034915 / Image : Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning confirmed that the balloon flew over Latin America. (Photo/Dazhi Image Associated Press) 

The two major powers of China and the United States have recently experienced diplomatic quarrels over the "spy balloon" incident. Although the reconnaissance balloon floating in the U.S. airspace has been shot down, the U.S. military has confirmed that a second Chinese high-altitude balloon has flown to Latin America. In response to this, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Chinese mainland also officially responded today (6th), admitting that the "unmanned airship" did originate in China, but claimed that it was "civilian in nature and used for flight tests" and that it would deviate from the planned route due to climate impacts, strayed into the skies over Latin America and the Caribbean."

Mao Ning, spokesperson of the CCP Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was asked by foreign media at a regular press conference on the 6th that the U.S. Department of Defense said it had discovered a second balloon from China over Latin America, and that the balloon intrusion case can be traced back to China. How did China respond during the Trump administration?

In this regard, Mao Ning confirmed, "After understanding and verification, the relevant unmanned airship comes from China, which is of a civilian nature and is used for flight tests." erroneously entered the sky over Latin America and the Caribbean.” Mao Ning said, “China is a responsible country and has always strictly abided by international law. I understand that."

Image : The Colombian Air Force confirmed the presence of an unidentified flying object suspected of being a balloon in its airspace. (Picture / Taken from the official website of the Colombian Air Force) 

Earlier, the U.S. Department of Defense pointed out that in addition to the Chinese high-altitude reconnaissance balloon floating in U.S. airspace at that time, another balloon flew over Latin America, but did not disclose the detailed location. The Colombian Air Force also issued a statement on 4 February, confirming that there is a flying object similar to a balloon in the airspace, which will be tracked by the defense system and confirmed that the object does not pose a threat to national security, national defense and aviation security.

 It is worth noting that when the U.S. military announced last week that a Chinese reconnaissance balloon had broken into U.S. airspace, the CCP Ministry of Foreign Affairs insisted that the unmanned airship was for civilian use and was used for "meteorological research" and that it entered the U.S. due to "force majeure situation”, but was subsequently refuted by the US side. Now that the civilian and accidental terms are used again, I am afraid that it depends on whether the Latin American countries pay the bill.