China’s Spy Balloon Drifted for 7 Days Across U.S.: A Timeline

The president had been discussing military options with the Pentagon since Tuesday, when he was alerted by the Pentagon that a spy balloon had entered the continental American airspace near Idaho. By Wednesday, the balloon was hovering over Montana, and a full-blown diplomatic crisis was underway. The arrival — and extended stay — of the balloon over American territory prompted furious calls from senior U.S. officials to their Chinese counterparts, and the cancellation of Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken’s planned visit to China. Here’s a day-by-day timeline of the…

VOA Interview: Chinese Balloon Operation Shows Disconnect Between Foreign Ministry and Military, Former CIA Analyst Says

Dennis Wilder, a former China analyst with the CIA, discussed the suspected Chinese spy balloon that was spotted drifting across the United States this week with VOA on Saturday. Wilder, now a professor of Asian Studies at Georgetown University, spoke with VOA’s State Department Bureau Chief Nike Ching shortly after the U.S. military shot down the balloon over the Atlantic Ocean. Asked if the U.S. had missed the opportunity to collect intelligence of what’s inside the balloon, Wilder said, “No, not at all. The balloon was shot down in U.S.…

Downing of Chinese Spy Balloon Ends Chapter in a Diplomatic Crisis

Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, alerted Mr. Biden. By Wednesday, when the balloon had made its way to the skies above Billings, Mont., Pentagon officials were alarmed because the state is home to the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base, one of three U.S. Air Force bases that operate and maintain intercontinental ballistic missiles. One Pentagon official described shock at what officials viewed as a blatant, and poorly concealed, effort at spying. A senior Biden administration official called the move audacious.…

Tech war: China faces more US pressure on semiconductor front in 2023 amid tightened export controls backed by Japan, Netherlands

ASML dominates the global market for chip manufacturing equipment on the back of its nearly 90 per cent share in the supply of highly advanced extreme ultraviolet machines, which it already ceased exporting to China from 2019. The US-led effort to further restrict chip-making equipment sales will also cloud the prospects of Japanese DUV systems suppliers to China, such as Nikon and Canon. Tokyo Electron, meanwhile, competes in other segments of the chip-making equipment market, such as advanced etching and coating tools. Advertisement “The crackdown on semiconductors has hit the…

US shoots down Chinese spy balloon off eastern coast

A U.S. fighter jet on Saturday shot down off the South Carolina coast a suspected Chinese spy balloon that had flown over the United States for several days, roiling already troubled relations between the two world powers. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement the balloon had been used to “surveil strategic sites in the continental United States” and was brought down above U.S. territorial waters – meaning within 12 nautical miles of the coast. President Joe Biden told reporters that he had given the order to shoot it…

Now the Chinese ‘spy balloon’ is down, the question is: what was it for?

Now the Chinese balloon has been brought down in a puff of smoke and debris by a US air-launched missile, after perplexing Washington with its three-day odyssey over the continental United States, the question is what was it all for? Once the balloon was spotted, Beijing claimed it was a weather observation airship that had been blown of course, drawing a snort of derision from the Pentagon, which said the balloon was able to manoeuvre and had made some deliberate turns, bringing it at one point over Montana, home of…

What Beijing must do to get Covid-wary Chinese consumers to spend more and save less

Internationally, strengthening the social security net is a usual part of efforts to tackle inequality. But according to the International Monetary Fund, China’s spending to protect workers and the vulnerable in 2018 trailed behind that of other large emerging market economies. This is an inadequacy that was likely to be exposed – if not already from published statistics – as the Covid-19 wave spreads. 29:55 China’s Covid crisis: What went wrong and how bad is it? | Talking Post with Yonden Lhatoo That is unfortunate. But one of the beliefs…

Indonesia to Drive Talks Over Disputed South China Sea

jakarta, Indonesia —  Indonesia plans to intensify talks with China and other Southeast Asian countries to finalize a code of conduct (COC) for the disputed South China Sea, its foreign minister said Saturday, amid escalating tensions in the strategic waterway. Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi was speaking in Jakarta at the close of a meeting between foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the 10-member regional bloc chaired by Indonesia this year. “ASEAN’s outlook on the Indo-Pacific was central to the discussion,” she said. “We also discussed about…

US shoots down suspected Chinese spy balloon over Atlantic Ocean

US warplanes have shot down a Chinese high-altitude balloon over the Atlantic Ocean after it had crossed the entire US and caused a diplomatic rift between the two countries. The balloon, which China said is for meteorological purposes but the US insists has been spying, could be seen on television collapsing and falling from the sky. Earlier, Joe Biden told reporters that “we’re going to take care of it,” and the president was reported to have given the order for it to be shot down over the ocean, after several…