The US and Canadian militaries continue to search at sea and on land for parts of the three flying objects that were shot down in the airspace over North America in recent weeks.
The Democratic majority leader in the US Senate, Chuck Schumer, now comes with harsh criticism of China, writes The Guardian.
– Increases suspicion
Critical
– The Chinese were humiliated. I mean the Chinese were caught lying. It’s a big step back for them, Schumer adds ABC News.
He claims that American officials are now convinced that all three flying objects, which were shot down over North America recently, were Chinese balloons.
That is, both the object that was shot down in Canada on Saturday, as well as the unidentified object that was shot down over Alaska on Friday and the balloon that was shot down in the ocean off South Carolina last week.
– I think the military and the intelligence service are doing a good job, both for the present and for the future. I have great confidence in what they are doing. But why, as far back as the Trump administration, did no one know about this? says Schumer.
On Sunday, another object was shot down over the USA, but it is still unknown where this object comes from and what kind of object it is.
Shoot down
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau writes on Twitter that he ordered the shooting down of a flying object over the Yukon area in Canada on Saturday afternoon Norwegian time.
– I ordered the shooting down of an unidentified object that was violating Canadian airspace. NORAD shot down the object over the Yukon. Both Canadian and American aircraft were dispatched, and the object was shot down by an American F-22 aircraft, the message says.
Canada is now trying to find parts of the vessel in a remote, rugged area of the Yukon. The object flew at 40,000 feet in Canadian territory and was considered a risk to civil air traffic, according to The Guardian.
China reacts after the shooting
Referred to as a “spy balloon”
The search also continues off the coast of South Carolina and Alaska in the wake of the two previous incidents.
US officials say they have so far found parts of what is believed to be a spy balloon believed to contain surveillance equipment in South Carolina. The content will be analyzed to provide insight into China’s espionage, according to The New York Post.
China still claims that the object was a weather balloon, and not a spy balloon as the US believes.
– China expresses strong dissatisfaction with the US using force to attack civilian unmanned airships, says a statement from the ministry.
– The Chinese side has repeatedly informed the American side that the airship is for civilian use and entered the USA due to force majeure, which was completely accidental, it says further.
