China Blasts At U.S’s Response To The Surveillance Balloon At The Munich Security Conference In 2023, Calling It ‘Absurd And Hysterical’

China’s most senior diplomat has stated that the shooting down of the surveillance balloon was hysterical and absurd, as well as condemned the action as the misuse of U.S. forces.

Wang Yi talked about the issue at the Munich security conference recently and said that the action does not show that the U.S. is strong. Rather, it shows that the nation is weak. The senior diplomat has further asserted that the decision to shoot down the surveillance balloon has been used to divert the attention of the Biden administration about the domestic problems of the nation.

He has even asserted that there are many balloons floating in the U.S. airspace, but they do not shoot down any balloons.

China has previously asserted that the balloon was a civilian non-military instrument and not a surveillance device. The balloon has flown off its trajectory.

Wang has even stated that China was on the verge of laying down a paper of rules and regulations that would emphasize the principles of territorial integrity and sovereignty. It would even lay down rules that nuclear war should never be fought, and the confusion about the surveillance balloon that is sent by the U.S. may come off as a miscalculation. He has asserted that China loathes the concept of the cold war and blocs.

Wang has accused unnamed forces responsible for the shortfall of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, suggesting that they had an ulterior motive apart from protecting Ukraine.

The U.S. government has been putting pressure on China to withdraw or at least reduce the support of Russia’s support of Ukraine. They have mentioned that the invasion could violate the principles of the U.N charter of which China is a part. China has declined to impose sanctions on Russia and has made it the primary country that has benefitted the Russian crude prices. The prices help Moscow to fund its war.

Washington has been in a state of caution since it spotted a massive white balloon from China before it was shot down on February 4.

Recently, a balloon that was floating at more than 40,000 feet over Montana was located by the US government. The country now believes it to be a surveillance balloon sent by China to spy on the United States. Senior defense officials have spoken about the situation and expressed their conviction that the surveillance balloon was sent by the People’s Republic of China. Such occurrences took place frequently throughout the year, prior to the administration.

Due to the sensitive location, the incident has proven to be a threat to the US government. The 341st Missile Wing of the Air Force, responsible for the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles, is based in Montana.

The balloon was revealed by the American government early in the week, but the Biden administration made the situation public on Thursday. Furthermore, a government official claimed that the United States government had begun to track down the location where it opened up access to Northern America.

How dangerous a situation might be for the country has not been stated. The capabilities of the balloon need to be made more clear. However, they have concluded that because the balloon is flying well above the air traffic, neither the general public nor military members are in danger.

The authority initially considered shooting the balloon down, but they decided against it because of how big it was and the possibility of potential damage. Since the balloon is currently flying above commercial aircraft, there are probably no immediate risks to the general public at this time.

The U.S “Warns” China about the surveillance balloon:

Antony Blinken, the Secretary of the State, has warned China not to continue with its “irresponsible act” of sending a surveillance balloon into American airspace as he had a meeting with a senior Chinese diplomat. The incident has caused Blinken to call off the trip to China. Beijing has constantly denied the allegations of the surveillance balloon and insisted that the service was used for weather forecasts.

Subsequently, they accused Washington of sending their own ballons into the Chinese territory, but the latter was denied.

Blinken has talked about the unacceptable violations of U.S. sovereignty and international law by China, mentioning that the action must not be repeated again.
The Secretary has cleared that United Nations will not tolerate any breach of any nation’s sovereignty.

Edited by Prakriti Arora