Washington retreats. China’s spy balloon discredits Joe Biden

Was it spying or not? The Chinese balloon shot down by the U.S. military in February was full of technology — including the U.S. But it is said that he did not share any information with China.

It’s not so bad, the Pentagon says, four months after the US Air Force shot down a Chinese spy balloon. That’s what Pat Ryder, a spokesman for the US Department of Defense, said at a media briefing today.

In February, Ryder told reporters that “it (the balloon) had intelligence-gathering capabilities.” “But it is (…) and our assessment right now is that no collection occurred while crossing the US or overflying.” “The efforts we made also contributed to this,” Ryder added.

Shouldn’t the US have shot down the balloon, but should China have believed it was a weather balloon? Above all, the incident significantly cooled relations between the two superpowers.

Joe Biden is downplaying the incident

It’s frowned upon that the tech-filled balloon should not have collected any information while in flight, as the US now claims. To some, it seems like a strategy of appeasement by Joe Biden, who downplayed the incident as a “stupid incident.” Chris Chappell of the YouTube channel “China Uncensored” suspects that the US president simply doesn’t want to, and doesn’t want to make any trouble.

Ultimately, Joe Biden is eager to ensure a tighter relationship with China. In early February, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken canceled a trip to Beijing at short notice due to the balloon issue. As recently as late June, Blinken traveled to Beijing to meet with Xi Jinping. Pre-arrival conflicts should be avoided at all costs.

American engineering on China’s balloon

The suspected spy balloon was over the United States and Canada for several days in early February. The U.S. Air Force airlifted him off the coast of South Carolina on February 4 and recovered debris from the ocean.

The analysis turned out that part of the technology used came from the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a preliminary investigation report. writes. Some products are commercially available products that can be ordered online. These devices were connected to special Chinese sensors.

The “Wall Street Journal” concludes from the combination of high-tech and conventional technology that the balloon was designed for observational purposes rather than scientific research, as China has always claimed. It is not clear why the balloon did not transmit the collected information. This could be due to a malfunction or countermeasures taken by the US military.

with agency materials.