delivery time2023-02-14 00:25
The official review of the Ministry of Defense begins… “China is becoming more authoritarian”
[로이터 연합뉴스 자료사진. 재판매 및 DB 금지]
(London = Yonhap News) Correspondent Yoon-Jeong Choi = British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stressed that he is prepared to shoot down Chinese reconnaissance balloons if they appear.
Prime Minister Sunak said in a meeting with reporters on the 13th (local time), “We have all the capabilities to respond to threats from the airspace,” The Times reported.
He said, “We are in constant contact with our allies, including the United States, and will do anything for the safety of the country.”
Concerns have been raised that the Chinese reconnaissance balloon that appeared in the US may have already crossed over to the UK, and the British government has officially launched a review of related information.
“The UK and its allies will review what an intrusion into our airspace means for our security,” UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said on the morning of the same day, Guardian and Sky News reported. said, it was reported.
The UK, together with the US and other partners, will analyze balloon-related information and assess risks to determine if changes are needed in airspace monitoring.
Politicians are warning that the balloon may have already crossed over to Britain, and the Ministry of Defense has not ruled out the possibility.
Wallace once said that if he saw a Chinese balloon, he would shoot it down.
When asked in an interview with Sky News that day whether a Chinese reconnaissance balloon could have already flown to Britain, Deputy Secretary of State for Transport Richard Holden replied, “It could be.”
Holden also said, “There may be people from the Chinese government who are trying to be hostile,” referring to a similar example in Salisbury in 2018 when Russia attempted to poison a double agent in exile in the UK.
“We have to be realistic about the threat these countries pose,” he said. “They don’t care about defending our democratic values or our human rights.”
“The United States will share our conclusions about the performance of the Chinese balloons with our classified intelligence-sharing alliance ‘Five Eyes’, and we will then conduct an internal review of the balloon’s ability to identify, track, sabotage and destroy,” said House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Alicia Keynes. will do,” he said.
The Telegraph reported that Prime Minister Sunak was under pressure to respond more forcefully to China.
Britain once dreamed of a strong relationship with China, but recently the relationship has sharply diverged and is now defined as a systemic challenge to British values and interests.
The British government ordered 5G network companies to withdraw Chinese Huawei technology two years ago, and last year banned Chinese CCTV equipment from installing Chinese CCTV equipment in sensitive areas out of national security concerns.
Under Prime Minister Liz Truss, he tried to define China as a security threat, but Prime Minister Sunak did not raise the bar and spoke of the need for cooperation in relation to the world economy and climate change.
A spokesman for the prime minister’s office said that day that China was becoming increasingly authoritarian, but did not use Holden’s term “hostile state.”
merciel@yna.co.kr
Report via KakaoTalk okjebo
<저작권자(c) 연합뉴스,
Unauthorized reproduction – redistribution prohibited>
2023/02/14 00:25 Send
