Tensions Rising: China To Take Down Flying Object Over Port City After US Shoots Down Third Balloon In North America

Recent sightings of aerial objects over the U.S. and Canada have created a furor and stirred worries concerning national security. Reports now suggest China has identified an object flying near one of its port cities.

What Happened: China is reportedly gearing up to take down the object found flying near the city of Qingdao, Chinese digital newspaper “The Paper” reported, Bloomberg said. This was communicated by an employee of the marine development authority of Qiangdao’s Jimo district, the report indicated.

Fishermen in the area have been alerted and told to be cautious.

Why It’s Important: It all started with U.S. military fighter jets shooting down a suspected Chinese spy balloon over U.S. territorial waters off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4. While the U.S. said the balloon was meant for surveillance, China maintained that it was a civilian meteorological research airship that had been blown off course.

See also: Not Just US, Chinese Spy-Balloon Targeted India, Japan And Other Asian Nations Too: Report

Incidentally, the balloon first entered U.S. airspace on Jan. 28 and floated to Canadian airspace on Jan. 30 before returning to the U.S. on Jan. 31.

On Feb. 10, the U.S. used a pair of F-22 Raptors to take down an object, roughly the size of a car, over the coast of northeastern Alaska. The very next day, the U.S. used an F-22 Raptor yet again to shoot down a high-altitude airborne object over Canada’s Yukon territory.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau acknowledged the development and tweeted, “I ordered the takedown of an unidentified object that violated Canadian airspace.”

“I spoke with President Biden this afternoon. Canadian Forces will now recover and analyze the wreckage of the object. Thank you to NORAD for keeping the watch over North America,” he said in a threaded tweet.

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