Archiv: the (NDAA / Indopacom) balloon situation Feb 2023
Wang Yi engaged in „an unofficial contact“ with Blinken at the request of the US side in Munich on Saturday local time. Wang „stated China‘s solemn position on the so-called airship incident“ and asked the US side to address its damage on US-China relations.
Negotiations ongoing for Blinken meeting with Chinese official in Munich
But there are signs that Blinken is operating under the assumption that a Munich meeting with Wang Yi is highly likely. “Some of the officials who would need to be there for such a meeting left with Blinken to Munich in anticipation of a potential meeting,” said a third Washington, D.C.-based diplomat familiar with the trip’s participants. All three diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to give public statements about the negotiations.
US and Chinese officials have been locked in negotiations to broker a meeting between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and diplomat Wang Yi. According to sources, the meeting would take place on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
In Munich, the U.S. and China‘s top diplomats see a chance to clear the air over balloons as the two sides discuss a possible meeting between Antony Blinken and Wang Yi, according to people familiar with the matter.
Abgeschossene Flugobjekte: Laut Biden kein Hinweis auf Spionage
Der Ballon sei später über Alaskas Aleuten-Inseln geschwebt und dann über Kanada gedriftet, von wo er anscheinend durch starke Winde auf das Festland der Vereinigten Staaten getrieben sei.
Analysten untersuchten dem Bericht zufolge nun die Möglichkeit, dass China mit seinem „Überwachungsgerät“ nicht absichtlich in das amerikanische Kernland eindringen wollte.
Remarks by President Biden on the United States’ Response to Recent Aerial Objects
THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon. Last week, in the immediate aftermath of the incursion by China’s high-altitude balloon, our military, through the North American Aerospace Defense Command — so-called NOR- — NORAD — closely scrutinized the — our airspace, including enhancing our radar to pick up more slow-moving objects above our country and around the world.
In doing so, they tracked three unidentified objects: one in Alaska, Canada, and over Lake Huron in the Midwest.
They acted in accordance with established parameters for determining how to deal with unidentified aerial objects in U.S. airspace.
At their recommendation, I gave the order to take down these three objects due to hazards to civilian commercial air traffic and because we could not rule out the surveillance risk of sensitive facilities.
(…)
Now, we’ll also continue to engage with China, as we have throughout the past two weeks. As I’ve said since the beginning of my administration, we seek competition, not conflict, with China. We’re not looking for a new Cold War.
(…)
Now, look, the other thing I want to point is that we are going to keep our allies and the Congress contemporaneously informed of all we know and all we learn. And I expect to be speaking with President Xi, and I hope we have a — we are going to get to the bottom of this. But I make no apologies for taking down that balloon.
Biden says will contact Xi in wake of balloon shoot-down
President Joe Biden on Thursday said he would talk to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in the wake of the US Air Force shooting down what Washington says was a high-tech Chinese spy balloon earlier this month.
“I expect to be speaking with President Xi and… we’re going to get to the bottom of this,” Biden said in his most extensive public remarks since the incident on February 4.
Biden: Flugobjekte waren keine Spionageballons
Am vergangenen Freitag, Samstag und Sonntag hatte Biden angeordnet, jeweils eines dieser Luftschiffe vom Himmel zu holen. Daraufhin feuerten Kampfjets Lenkraketen auf das Ziel. „Aus einem Übermaß an Vorsicht“, sagte er jetzt. „In einer hektischen Phase haben die USA möglicherweise hochentwickelte Waffen eingesetzt, um harmlose Objekte zum Absturz zu bringen“, schreibt die Washington Post.
I don’t understand- can’t a F-35 get close enough to take a high res picture- and then do a simple reverse image search to see it was a hobby balloon?
(…)
The week Biden had to decide whether to shoot down mysterious objects
“Nothing right now suggests they were related to China’s spy balloon program or that they were surveillance vehicles from any other country,” Biden said. “The intelligence community’s current assessment is that these three objects were most likely balloons tied to private companies, recreation or research institutions studying weather or conducting other scientific research.”
Biden also said there was no evidence of a sudden increase in the number of aerial objects, saying the United States was finding more of them because of radar adjustments.
Congress, Pentagon: Compromise NDAA released with $857.9 billion topline
(December 06, 2022)
And of course, it wouldn’t be a defense-related topic in 2022 without a focus on China. “The language extends the Pacific Deterrence Initiative (PDI) through fiscal year 2023, identifies approximately $11.5 billion of investments in support of PDI objectives, and authorizes approximately an additional $1 billion to address unfunded requirements identified by the Commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM).” It also includes potentially interesting language requiring “the establishment of a joint force headquarters within the INDOPACOM area of responsibility.”
Lawmakers Want Increase in Pentagon’s INDOPACOM Budget for 2023
(May 2, 2022)
President Biden has requested a massive $813 billion military budget for the 2023 fiscal year, but it isn’t enough for Congress. Lawmakers have been combing the budget to find ways to increase the spending, and one area of concern is the Pentagon’s budget request for US Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM).
„The US believes Chinese spy satellites in low Earth orbit are capable of offering similar or better intelligence, limiting the value of whatever Beijing can glean from the high-altitude balloon, which is the size of three buses, according to another defense official.“
(03.02.2023)