According to a representative for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the Biden administration will brief the “Gang of Eight” next week on the Chinese spy balloon that is circling the continental United States. After the balloon was found, several politicians, including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, requested a “Gang of Eight” briefing.
“President Biden cannot remain mute about China’s flagrant disdain for American sovereignty; this is a destabilizing behavior that needs to be addressed. McCarthy posted a request for a Gang of Eight briefing on Twitter.
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Eight Republican and eight Democratic congressional leaders from the House and Senate make up the “Gang of Eight,” who receive classified information from the executive branch.
Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, a spokesman for the Pentagon, stated during a briefing on Thursday afternoon that the American government had discovered a high-altitude surveillance balloon over the American continent.
The U.S. administration is “certain” the surveillance balloon belongs to the People’s Republic of China, a senior defense official stated. The balloon was recently over Montana, according to the defense official, who also added that the government considered shooting it down but decided against doing so due to the potential risks.
According to the person, President Biden was briefed on the circumstances and asked for military options.
The mobilization of several assets, including an F-22, and a ground halt at Billings Airport were both mentioned in reports from yesterday, the official said. The reason for that was because we prepared some resources in case the decision was made to shoot this down while it was over Montana.
“In order to clear the airspace surrounding that prospective location, we needed to be sure we were working in concert with civil authorities. Our military superiors believed that despite the precautionary measures we had put in place, the risk hadn’t been reduced enough. We decided not to attempt the shot.
In a response to U.S. government representatives on Friday, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry asserted that the balloon was a “civilian airship” being used for meteorological reasons that diverted from its intended trajectory.
The airship originates in China. The representative explained that it is a civilian airship that is utilized for research, mostly meteorological research. The airship strayed far from its intended trajectory because of the Westerlies and its limited ability to steer itself.
According to a senior U.S. defense official, the balloon’s first launch was from China’s mainland. The Pentagon rejects assertions that the item is a weather balloon that deviated from its intended path. The top American official declared, “This was intentional.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled a trip to China due to the balloon’s discovery.
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