>

After Trump let 3 of them fly over America and hit it, and did nothing about them i guess they thought Biden would do the same.
Maybe we should send a super sophisticated "weather" balloon over China and see what they do with it. >

Make it shaped like Winnie the Pooh >

I support this idea with my tax dollars. >

The 9.2 trillion dollar balloon was inflated by Raytheon. >

I wonder how they'd feel about America letting one of those ballons float over to China? Probably not too thrilled. >

Are satellites not a thing anymore?  What are we all excited about? >

In one of the many posts about this someone was commenting that because of the lower altitude they would be able to “scan” deeper into the crust. The theory makes sense but idk if it checks out. >

I’m confident enough in our military (the seeming one competent government institution) that if there was any real additional risk allowing it to continue as opposed to taking the balloon our days ago, then they would have taken it out days ago.
Really not sure where this story arc is going though tbh. Recent news they may have sent three during the last administration?  Maybe they allowed it to go just to see how China would react? There was some rationale to not taking it out before, curious as to what that is >

If they just took it out right away, the Chinese would get to see our standard response time, tactics, and monitor our comms while we do it. By delaying we got to feed them false information, observe their technological capabilities, potentially identify who they were communicating with, and more. 
Even as it was, the Chinese no doubt got some info on the F22 and the sidewinder. >

Also if the US shot it down immediately, it would be a side story that lasts a day tops. The US can milk this story internationally for days and make it the headline for other countries to be aware of the antics that China pulls. US let it traverse and linger over military sites as a way of further evidence that this was no ordinary balloon. >

Except it probably really was just a weather balloon 🙄 gotta spew the pro-war propaganda
Haha everyone downvoted me because they want to see war. How sad >

And what does China propose as an appropriate reaction beyond letting it linger for a week and shooting it down over the water as it is apparently out of control? >

If it was over the water, then that means it has completely drifted over the states, right?
Any information it could have theoretically collected if it was a spy balloon is complete. We could have just let it keep drifting since the United States apparently failed miserably to stop a balloon that can be seen with the naked eye on the ground. >

What are you arguing here? That the most advanced and well funded military on the planet was unable to deal with a balloon?
Please take your tinfoil hat off for a moment and consider that perhaps the US military took steps that we civilians couldn't see, and that they waited til it was over the water so it didn't cause any damage or kill someone by landing on them. >

Not to mention it's probably be easier to recover and study the wreckage when you don't have to comb through miles of grassland for it >

You think it's easier to recover electronic equipment from the bottom of the ocean than from a dry grassy plain? >

It landed in 47 feet of water, and a lot of those parts wouldn't likely sink immediately. >

Nuts here! Dry roasted nuts here! What's that thing in the sky, it looks like a long, hard... >

No dumbass, declaring war for invading our airspace would be an overreaction. >

Aw we hurt Pooh's feelings he can't see our honey stockpiles anymore >

Oh the theater of it all >

The balloon had a device though! And we didn't know what it was. 
WW3 started over top secret China spy balloon. 
WW4 started over an 8-track tape. >


A-Track tape

dont you mean an 8-track tape? >

WW5- Revenge of the laserdisc >

WW6 - Return of the Bluray >

Maybe the US should return the favour and lets see how China responds? >

The thing is China already thinks the US has returned the favor tenfold with American military presence all around China. The panic this caused some people in the US is the same panic some in people in China have felt for decades... Putin is another person who likely feels the same way and even claims it's a reason why he invaded Ukraine. >

We aren't actually in or over China though. Just nearby. It's like if we freaked out because China had dealings with the Bahamas or Costa Rica >

It's hard to sympathize with China, considering how politically aggressive they've been in the past decade >

I hope it doesn't seem like I'm sympathizing. I'm mainly pointing out that people's reaction of political aggression towards the balloon is analogous to China's own political aggression which you're right has been ongoing for the past decade plus >

Weren’t we doing them a favor, by stopping their “out of control weather balloon”? >

What worries me the most about this whole story is, why would China ever admit the balloon was theirs? They could just stay silent and deny, and people would start blaming Russia eventually >

They know we know, they just want to use it as propaganda to rile their people up for war. Our intelligence already publicly told us to expect one by 2025. >

Source? >

That prediction is widely considered to be sensationalism. As an outsider there's no better way to drum up support than with a good old fear mongering campaign.
There is no upshot to a war between super powers. Could it happen? Sure, but there's no actual evidence, and doing it would be stupid. Like, world endingly stupid. >

And it is important to note that a war between China and the U.S. would be devastating to both economies and the world economy. Which I believe creates a strong deference. >

They clearly didn’t like it, y’all must have done the right thing >

China can go fuck itself. The US government allowed that balloon to travel across the entire country, in US airspace, until it got far enough into the Atlantic to intercept, lessening the chance of anyone getting hurt or killed. >

It was probably trailed or circled by E-3s or something to black out its transmission capability. I bet china got nothing after it entered our airspace.  Even a picture of Winnie the Pooh. >

Bet. They're probably upset that it was jammed the whole way over then downed before the big upload after they left the mainland >

Suck our dongs CCP >

China got outplayed politically here as the U.S. let the balloon fly over the whole country before it was shot down over water in U.S. airspace. Any condemnation of U.S. action sounds laughable at this point.
Their own propaganda machine had to flip the script on "look how aggressive the U.S. is" to "look at the weak U.S. who can't even shoot down this balloon for days" when we didn't shoot it down in Alaska like they thought we would. >

Upon learning of the ballon's destruction, he was quoted as saying "oh bother...." >

“Hey general Piglet (Kim Jong Un), get me some more honey will ya? And don’t eat it, I know you like to eat” >

Yes, reaction to something that was over the United States. >

Everyones an expert except the experts. 🙄 >

Nice alliteration >

Cool he won't mind then if we send some of our own. >

The word “attack” seems rich. Why wouldn’t countries feel threatened by this? Suddenly balloons are spotted in the western hemisphere, found to have some measure of maneuverability, and everyone’s supposed to be cool with that? China being butt hurt when a country moves to protect itself is laughable. They overstep their bounds constantly just to be abrasive and see what they can get away with because of their leadership’s overblown ego. Drives me nuts that the world’s population constantly has to be subjected to horrible egomaniacal leaders. >

Like they'd have taken as long to do the same thing, they can shut the right the hell up. >

Well, we do like our target practice. Thanks for the target? >

Not sure what they’re upset about, after all we shot it down after it flew over the country, so they got all their data anyway >

Should have been popped as soon as it entered U.S. airspace. >

That's a great tactic to start a war - send a spy plane/drone into your enemy's airspace, wait for them to shoot it down and then cry about how wrong it is. It's just like Russia - invade another country and then call the rest of the world Nazis because they're supplying weapons to the victims of the invasion. >

Possibly the reason for the delay. If we didn't shoot it down upon immediate entry into our airspace but instead on the way out, it's harder to construe as an aggressive action. >

You’re just sorry because you got caught >

So that’s where Russia learned that. >

China Cries & Whines when the U. S. dares to sail outside their coastal exclusion zone, yet feels it's perfectly OK to violate our air space? Double Standard Much! >

A condemnation by a psychotic genocidal totalitarian government is basically a compliment, so.. thanks? >

We should send them the bill… >

China can bite my fucking ass >

They were testing what our response would be. >

Yeah so now they know that if they send a nuclear warhead by missile, we’ll shoot it down, but if they send it by balloon, we’ll let it float to wherever they want to drop it. >

"Lets drop just 1 nuke on the US to piss them off"
-No one ever
If a super power nukes a super power they're sending hundreds, and neither country will exist afterwards. >

“Let’s take this Reddit comment about a balloon nuke as a serious strategic suggestion” - no one ever (except you) >

If it was just a weather balloon or something then I'd guess they wouldn't care.
If they have to "condemn" it as an attack they were clearly up to some dodgy shit >

They didn't "condemn" the attack. They asked for a non-aggressive resolution to this.
We launched a $400,000 missile at it to blow it up and Xi basically said, "Well that was excessive." >

Might as well have some target practice. >

I know, right? Hitting it with the JDAM would have been cooler AND wouldn't have spread debris in an 11 mile radius.
Probably would have preserved the "spy" device better too. >

I mean, technically invading our airspace is an act of war so I'd say they underreacted. >

Republicans have already invited the Chinese spy balloon to CPAC and announced its run for Speaker of the House. >

Shit when did the balloon switch parties? >

Fuck this Winnie the Pooh looking guy >

Did I already say, fuck the CCP?
If not, then let me say, fuck the CCP. >

Grass mud horse covering the middle. >

Are you from Kentucky or can you translate to English?
Edit:  Or both? >

It's from an art piece by AI Weiwei, a Chinese dissident, and the name is a pun where if you change the tones in Chinese the meaning is "fuck your mother, CCP central committee" >

PBUY >

So the US can send a balloon too and you wont mind? >

China always tries to play the victim in these sorts of things, honestly it is just simple shortsighted statecraft. No one believes what China is saying is genuine, they are just mad that they got caught and their shiny toys got ruined. Honestly they are like the kid that will constantly poke at someone and play the victim when that someone does something about it. >

I wonder how difficult a basic weather balloon is to make (just the balloon part, not the actual data collection stuff) assuming the fabric and construction is pretty straightforward and easy to obtain. I wonder if it would be possible to make one using a scaled up pattern for a stuffed Winnie the Pooh bear.
Also where would it have to be released in the US to make it to China? >

Whatsa matter, we burst your bubble-I mean, balloon??  WHAAAAA!!!!!!!!!! >

Eat our whole ass, Pooh. >


China condemns US ‘attack’ on surveillance balloon as ‘overreaction’

It took the decision long enough, so I guess the Chinese got more surveillance than they originally thought. >

If it was just a weather balloon why not just go ahead and give it the vent command. The way it was steered was by either gaining or losing altitude to use the winds. If it can do that it can also land >

Shouldn't be flying there shit over our country! >

It should have never happened, borders open and now air space?! Wtf is going on here >

Lol >

'The last guy let us get away with it!' - The Chinese, probably... >

Shouldn’t be over U.S.A. land, we had the right to shoot it down >

To be fair, using a $400k missile to pop a balloon is a bit overkill. >

How can you call it an 'overreaction'... have you met America? You always knew we were gonna shoot it. We were never not gonna shoot it. Don't take it personally, China, it's not you, it's us, and we shoot stuff.