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Incidents similar to that of Chinese weather balloon which in recent days flew over the US federal territory, shot down by the Pentagon last Saturday, have occurred at least four other times in recent years. The general said so Glen Van Herck, the head of the US North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), during a briefing with reporters, adding that in the past the Pentagon has failed to identify and locate balloons sent by the Chinese government inside the federal territory. Last week would be "at least the fifth episode" in which China has violated US airspace over the past few years. "We have a responsibility to identify and avert the threats that put our continent at risk: in the past we have not been able to identify them adequately, and this represents a problem to be solved", said the general. Over the weekend, the Pentagon said similar incursions by the Chinese government would also take place during the administration of former President Donald Trump.
But the former intelligence leaders are not there and deny that similar episodes have occurred during the Trump presidency. “Now (the Pentagon) has made up that a balloon has already been sent from China during the Trump administration, so as to justify the slowness of the (administration) Biden fools,” said the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency yesterday. (CIA) and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. “I've read the stories that [the US overflight by Chinese spy probes] happened in full sight of us. I can comment from direct experience. I was never told about it, and I'm pretty sure the CIA director would have been told about a balloon the size of three buses slowly making its way into the heart of our territory for days,” Pompeo added.
Former President Trump also disputed the Pentagon's claims with a message on social media Truth: “China had too much respect for 'Trump' to attempt such a thing, and in fact it never happened. It is just false information,” wrote the former president. The Pentagon leaks also triggered denials from former director of national intelligence John Ratcliffe and former national security advisers Robert O'Brien and John Bolton. "I don't know of any balloon flights from any foreign power over the United States during my tenure, and I have never heard of anything like this happening before my arrival in 2018," Bolton said in an interview with the broadcaster. “Fox News”. "I haven't heard anything like this even after I left."
Meanwhile, the US military has recovered some wreckage of the balloon shot down last weekend off the coast of South Carolina. This was reported by the spokesman of the National Security Council, John Kirby, adding that US authorities do not intend to return the remains to China, according to which the balloon was a meteorological research probe that accidentally drifted ashore. Kirby instead reiterated that in the opinion of the US authorities, the probe was "carrying out surveillance activities over sensitive military sites within the United States", and that the balloon was equipped with a propulsion system that allowed it to "maneuver, accelerate , slow down and divert the route”. The official accused China of a "blatant violation" of US sovereignty, and added that the downing of the probe fully complies with the dictates of international law.
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