Colombia releases more details about second Chinese spy balloon flying over Latin America

By James On Feb 5, 2023

The Colombian Air Force has released additional information about a second suspected Chinese high-altitude spy balloon, seen flying over parts of Latin America.

A balloon at an altitude of 55,000 feet was detected on February 3 traveling at about 25 knots in northern Colombia, they said in a statement.

Unlike the balloon that traveled across the US, Colombian authorities said it was not shot down because it was not considered a “national security threat.” Instead, they followed it out of national airspace.

The United States Department of Defense confirmed on Friday the existence of a second balloon that would have flown over Costa Rica, Colombia and Venezuela in an easterly direction.

“We are seeing reports of a balloon transiting Latin America,” Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said a day after the first craft was sighted in the United States. “We now assess that it is another Chinese surveillance balloon.”

The next day, Saturday, the Department of Defense confirmed that an F-22 Raptor fighter jet had shot down the balloon in the US that had been hovering over Missouri and Montana.

The Colombian Air Force has released additional information about the second alleged Chinese high-altitude spy balloon, seen flying over parts of Latin America. Your route is shown above in orange and is labeled (2)

‘On February 3, 2023 in the morning, the National Air Defense System detected an object above 55,000 feet, which entered Colombian airspace in the northern sector of the country,’ it reported on February 4.

Images on Twitter appeared to show the balloon hovering over Cartagena in Colombia and then over Maracaibo in Venezuela. In both, the white surveillance balloon appeared as a white speck moving slowly across the blue skies.

China insisted that the balloon that traversed the US was an errant civilian aircraft used mainly for meteorological research that went off course due to the winds.

“Affected by westerly winds and with limited self-steering ability, the aircraft deviated greatly from its planned course,” said Mao Ning, spokesman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The United States rejected that outright, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled a high-risk trip to Beijing, telling a senior Chinese diplomat that sending the balloon over the United States was “an irresponsible act.”

Colombian officials said in their statement that “it will carry out the pertinent investigations in coordination with different countries and institutions to establish the origin of the object.”

Colombia’s political and security relationship with the People’s Republic of China has been deteriorating in recent years, according to a report last year from the Center for International Strategic Studies.

Its relationship with the People’s Republic of China is one of the oldest in the region. In 1980, Colombia changed its diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to the People’s Republic of China, but in recent years it seems to have begun to see China more as a threat than an opportunity.

Colombian authorities said the second balloon was detected at an altitude of 55,000 feet and was traveling at about 25 knots. Shown here above Maracaibo in Venezuela

The second Chinese spy balloon was reported to be flying over Latin America, with many taking photos of a balloon flying over Venezuela (left). The sighting came after a surveillance balloon was seen flying in Montana (right)

Chinese officials have said the balloon was a civilian aircraft deployed for meteorological purposes that had gone astray. The United States has rejected that idea.

President Biden was initially interested in shooting down the balloon, but defense officials warned him against doing so because its sheer size meant it could harm Americans on the ground. Finally, it was shot down after passing over South Carolina and over the Atlantic.

China threatens to respond with “resolute action” after the US finally shot down its spy balloon after it finally passed over the Atlantic Ocean.

Beijing’s foreign ministry last night criticized the move as a “clear overreaction and a serious violation of international practice.”

An F-22 Raptor fighter jet shot down the balloon with a single AIM-9X sidewinder missile at 2:38 p.m. Saturday, off the coast of South Carolina.

FULL STATEMENT FROM THE PENTAGON:

This afternoon, under the direction of President Biden, US warplanes assigned to US Northern Command successfully shot down the launched high-altitude surveillance balloon belonging to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) over the water off the South Carolina coast in US airspace.

The balloon, which was being used by the People’s Republic of China in an attempt to survey strategic sites in the continental United States, was shot down over US territorial waters.

On Wednesday, President Biden gave his authorization to shoot down the surveillance balloon as soon as the mission could be accomplished without undue risk to the lives of Americans in the balloon’s path.

After careful analysis, US military commanders determined that shooting down the balloon while on the ground posed undue risk to people over a wide area due to the size and altitude of the balloon and its surveillance payload.

In accordance with the President’s instructions, the Department of Defense developed options to bring down the balloon safely over our territorial waters, while closely monitoring its trajectory and intelligence-gathering activities.

This action was taken in coordination and with the full support of the Canadian government. And we thank Canada for its contribution to NORAD’s tracking and analysis of the globe as it transited North America.

Today’s deliberate and lawful action demonstrates that President Biden and his national security team will always put the security of the American people first as they respond effectively to the PRC’s unacceptable violation of our sovereignty.

Beijing issued a threatening statement saying it “reserves the right to provide further answers if necessary.”

“After verification, the Chinese side has repeatedly informed the US side about the civil nature of the aircraft and communicated that its entry into the US due to force majeure was totally unexpected,” the ministry said.

The United States had been tracking the first balloon since at least January 31, when it was first reported to President Biden, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.

After passing sensitive military sites in Montana, the balloon was moving southeast over the heart of the central United States during the day and was expected to remain in US airspace for several days, officials said.

According to three US officials, Biden initially tried to order the surveillance balloon to be shot from the sky, and a senior defense official said the US had prepared fighter jets, including F-22s, to shoot it down if ordered.

However, officials said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, advised him not to shoot down the balloon, warning that its size, the size of three busses, and considerable weight they could harm the Americans on the ground.

The Pentagon also suggested that the chance of the balloon picking up important information was not very high.

It was not the first time Chinese surveillance balloons had been tracked over US soil, at least once during former President Trump’s administration, authorities said.

This recent discovery of the balloons has dealt a new blow to the already tense relations between the United States and China, which have been on a downward spiral for years.

However, US officials maintained that diplomatic channels remain open and that Blinken said he remained willing to travel to China “when conditions permit.”

“We continue to believe that having open lines of communication is important,” he said.

A US State Department official said Blinken and Assistant Secretary of State Wendy Sherman had protested to the senior Chinese embassy official on Wednesday, a day before the Pentagon announced the discovery of the balloon.