lol they are already trying to make it sound like western companies who's parts are in it are "working directly with the CPC" (not a literal quote from the piece). They are just going to keep strawman-ing every nut and bolt and make it harder and harder to just simply admit that it was just a normal ass weather balloon. It will be more important to just lie about it instead of having a national security version of the Al Capone's vault. Even if it were a "spy balloon" it doesn't change the fact that the US has been using all kinds of stuff to spy on basically everyone. Satellites are just not as easy to spot.
this post was submitted on 09 Feb 2023
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Well China admitted it was theirs, so if west spins the western made parts, it means they are most likely gonna sanction even more things, because "western made parts are being used in chinese spy machines". The same logic they use to sanction things like game consoles to Iran etc.
The West should only try to sanction China, it will bite their own assets like it did with Russia
China also has satellites...
Sorry if it seemed like I didn't know China has satellites. The main rant point was that the US is the loudest at making a big deal about spying. While it is also the one that all other nations should be more concerned about. They are wasting tax money and time on show piece laws to ban shit like TikTok because it is maybe "spying on Americans. Ignoring that we literally have been shown that basically every cell phone everywhere is either actively or ready to be spied on and data collected. The US is spying on massive levels, but does so in ways that seem "invisible". It isn't China or their tech companies that shouldn't be trusted by companies and government agencies. The US creates situations where other nations feel like they need to let US agencies come in and "help" verify that Chinese or Russian hackers aren't in super important systems. While at the same time making sure to make clones of the keys to the backdoor.
Could all of the balloon saga just be a western/amerikkkan psyop (can't find a better term yet) to increase jingoist sentiment against China? I certainly don't put it beyond them, just look at the horrid and inhumane shit they did in the past, what is a balloon for them in the end. Just a bit of plastic, some sensors and some money.
What is your perspective as well as the one of the people reading this?
China saying it's theirs kind of settles that question in my opinion.
I think the most likely scenario is that China intentionally flew a regular weather balloon with bunch of western tech in it knowing precisely how US would react.
In the eyes of anybody outside the western sphere the reaction looks equal parts unhinged and incompetent. US couldn't take decisive action on what to do, then Biden ordered to shoot it down, got overruled by the military initially. Finally, they let the balloon sail all the way across the country before shooting it down in the ocean.
It was a huge spectacle and deeply humiliated the US. Chinese wouldn't even answer Austin's calls about it to rub the salt in the wound.
US ultimately having shot down the balloon also gives China the precedent they need to shoot down anything US might try to fly in their airspace going forward.
Overall a masterful troll by China.
I think the most likely scenario is that China intentionally flew a regular weather balloon with bunch of western tech in it knowing precisely how US would react.
That's impossible because weather balloons aren't steerable. There was just an unusual wind. If it was really a spy balloon, the US also wouldn't have quietly allowed it to fly over Alaska and Canada.
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2023/02/nyt-plants-false-claims-over-chinas-balloon-communication.html
You can't send a balloon with any degree of accuracy, hence why the spy claims are ridiculous. However, you can send it in the air streams that have predictable patterns due to Earth rotating. So you can put a balloon up in the upper atmosphere and have it drift around the world with high likelihood of eventually making it over some part of US. Incidentally, US did this themselves to China back in the 50s https://theintercept.com/2023/02/07/china-balloon-soviet-union/
Another reason China wouldn't send a spy balloon is that US obviously has the capability to shoot the balloon down and would almost certainly do so. China wouldn't want to give US access to any actual spy tech and learn their capabilities.
The best thing that came ot of this shitshow was that masterful CGI by a Chinese troll-comrade about the balloon
that was a masterpiece
If you believe a country can be humiliated by a balloon... sorry I just don't buy the narrative that this was some "5d chess plan" by China.
US very clearly demonstrated that a country can indeed be humiliated by a balloon. Sending a balloon over US is no more 5d chess than US flying Pelosi to Taiwan to try and get a rise out of China.
The difference in how the two countries reacted respectively really says everything one needs to know about who's got their shit together.
...because it's a goddamn research balloon. Those don't tend to have security related technology restrictions like military devices do.
The insinuation that "oh look at all these seeseepee compliant companies in their spying" is complete bullshit fear mongering.
Occam's Razor: some grand conspiracy where China managed to get multiple major Western companies in on their illegal spying of the west, with said Western companies knowing that the device with their tech on it will almost certainly be captured and inspected, exposing their involvement in it, complete with the companies not bothering to obfuscate their markings. Or they needed to make a civilian balloon so they sourced the best parts they (read: probably not even the central government, most likely a university, research institution, or local government) could get quickly and cost effectively, some of which being Chinese and others Western, you know, like how all civilian tech components are sourced?
The spin on this has been pretty hilarious to watch.
I mean... Are we surprised? This is the same country that gave us "Jewish Space Lasers" and "The snow in Texas is not real."