Military tracking high-altitude balloon flying over Western U.S.::The U.S. is tracking a small, high-altitude balloon that is drifting across the country but poses no threat to national security, the military said Friday.
Military tracking high-altitude balloon flying over Western U.S.::The U.S. is tracking a small, high-altitude balloon that is drifting across the country but poses no threat to national security, the military said Friday.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The developments come one year after tensions between the U.S. and China ratcheted to new heights after a Chinese balloon carrying sophisticated spying equipment flew over the continental U.S. for several days.
The Chinese foreign ministry claimed that the balloon was meant to collect weather data and had “deviated far from its planned course” due to high winds.
The spy balloon became a political headache for President Biden, who faced criticism from Republicans over his decision to allow it to transit over the U.S. for nearly a week before ordering it shot down.
Though the Pentagon eventually concluded the balloon did not transmit information back to China, its presence put the U.S. military on high alert for other objects in U.S. airspace.
The Chinese spy balloon became a major diplomatic point of contention between the U.S. and China, prompting Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel a trip to Beijing in February 2023.
Blinken eventually made the trip in June to try to soothe rising tensions over a number of issues, including the balloon and the Chinese military’s assertiveness in the South China Sea.
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