THREAD: Suspected Chinese spy balloon discovered near Montana missile silos, drifts across the US and Biden orders it shot down. Beijing calls it a wayward civilian aircraft, expresses its “strong dissatisfaction” and accuses Washington of “overreacting.”
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Dexter Roberts
@dtiffroberts
Senior Fellow Ex China Bureau Chief The Myth Of Chinese Capitalism. Check out my China weekly: dexter.substack.com
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The second portion of my two- part excerpt in on China's influence efforts, particularly in Asia - focusing on influence of the local media: How Beijing targets media in global influence operations asia.nikkei.com/Life-Arts/Arts
cc for all her work on it.
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Business confidence and the service sector may rebound but don’t expect this economic recovery to look like earlier ones. That's not good news for the world >>Get the latest in China politics, business, and economics this week and every week n Trade War:
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Secretary of State Blinken visit postponed as US-China relations drop to near an all time low. Washington mulls broader limits on American investment in China tech beyond semiconductors. And foreign trade and investment outlook called “severe” by Beijing.
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According to a Pentagon statement: “The official said Chinese balloons briefly transited the continental United States at least three times during the prior administration.”
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Business confidence and the service sector may rebound but don’t expect this economic recovery to look like earlier ones. That's not good news for the world >>Get the latest in China politics, business, and economics this week and every week n Trade War:
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Secretary of State Blinken visit postponed as US-China relations drop to near an all time low. Washington mulls broader limits on American investment in China tech beyond semiconductors. And foreign trade and investment outlook called “severe” by Beijing.
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“We have intercontinental ballistic missiles here,” said Dexter Roberts, a fellow at . “It would be quite a natural place for a spy balloon to come and take a closer look."
Thanks for having me on .
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US downs suspected Chinese spy balloon - Indo-Pacific Security Initiative senior fellow Dexter Roberts speaks to - thanks for having me on!
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Today, the United States brought down China’s high-altitude surveillance balloon that violated American and Canadian airspace and international law. Canada strongly supports this action – we’ll keep working together, including through , on our security and defence.
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The bi-national @NORADCommand has been tracking and analyzing the trajectory and actions of the balloon – and this Canada-U.S. cooperation ensures the security and defence of North American air sovereignty.
Today and always, we thank our people in uniform for having the watch.
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JUST IN: China expresses “strong dissatisfaction” against US “use of force” to “attack” what it says is an unmanned civilian airship. Adds that the US is “obviously overreacting and seriously violating international practice”
Foreign Ministry statement:
mfa.gov.cn/web/zyxw/20230
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US downs suspected Chinese spy balloon - Indo-Pacific Security Initiative senior fellow Dexter Roberts speaks to - thanks for having me on!
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This is extremely unfortunate, a departure from initial smart CN policy not to provoke US by backfilling sanctions. Major SOE involved no deniable small fry. Adds a lot of fuel to the balloon fire, very dangerous. Maybe some in CN deliberately don’t want a thaw?
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Moscow is equipping its fighter jets, submarines and soldiers with the help of Chinese companies, customs data shows wsj.com/articles/china via @WSJ
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BREAKING: The US military used F-22s from Langley AFB to take down the Chinese spy balloon. The missile was an AIM-9X.
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“We have intercontinental ballistic missiles here,” said Dexter Roberts, a fellow at . “It would be quite a natural place for a spy balloon to come and take a closer look."
Thanks for having me on .
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Not maybe, definitely. Or at minimum a take down.
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Wow, looks like the FAA has put out a Temporary Restricted Area off the NC/SC coast, surface to 60K feet and prohibiting all civil aircraft operations. This is pretty unusual, maybe setting up for a balloon shoot down?
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Montana officials want details on China's spy balloon dailymontanan.com/2023/02/03/mon @daily_montananより
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Did anyone have “balloon” on their bingo card for US-China relations in 2023? 🇨🇳🎈
Read insights on the odd Chinese surveillance balloon recently discovered floating over the western United States from , , and . ⤵️
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Here’s an account of a crazy 48 hours in Washington, detailing how a balloon blew up Blinken’s China trip
With and
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“If China wants to spy on the U.S., and particularly look at military capability, well, they should look at Montana. And it appears that’s what they were doing.”
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Has a country with a falling population ever experienced economic growth? Absolute numbers matter, especially in a world where debt levels are high and the only way out is to enlarge the economic base thru higher birth rates or immigration #China on.cfr.org/3DlmW6c
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In a new policy brief for , Global China Hub Nonresident Fellows and examine U.S. investment in China's AI sector, laying out the implications of that investment and next steps for U.S. policy.
Read the report: ⬇️
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Mansfield Fellow and Political Science professor has been providing expert analysis to news sites on the Chinese air balloon spotted over Montana this week.
Roberts also serves as a senior fellow at the where he provides expertise on China.
#Thread
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Lots of interest in suspected Chinese spy balloon. Recent sighting north of Kansas City. Forward trajectory based on atmospheric steering currents would bring it close to St. Louis tonight & into North Carolina Saturday. Follow Wash Post live updates here: bit.ly/3DF1yJl
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Chinese spy balloon detected over Montana just days after hearing on Sen. Bogner's bill to prohibit foreign adversaries - China - from controlling land in the state: dailymontanan.com/2023/02/02/spy #mtnews #mtleg
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Montana’s top Republicans on the suspected Chinese balloon seen over Billings #mtpol
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“The Chinese spy balloon drifting over Montana caught my attention—Montana is my home state,” writes .
But... ⤵️
Read more: ➡️ bit.ly/3kYroS6
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useful summary of what's at stake with the balloon saga.
i would add that the Biden Admin is also making it clear to China that unlike Obama it will not take insults lying down. (The PRC made Obama exit Air Force One through the rear exit and kept him waiting in a GHOP hallway)
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4 Q's (& expert answers) re the curious case of the Chinese spy balloon over Montana-happy to be here w/ @AtlanticCouncil colleagues @ACScowcroft @MatthewKroenig @ACGlobalChina @DaveShullman cc Indo-Pacific Security Initiative @Mister_G_2, @MansfieldCenter atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atla
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Super important: The Tech War is the Biden admin version of the Trump trade war x 10. Dead tech in chips for China is the end for strategic competition.
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4 Q's (& expert answers) re the curious case of the Chinese spy balloon over Montana-happy to be here w/ @AtlanticCouncil colleagues @ACScowcroft @MatthewKroenig @ACGlobalChina @DaveShullman cc Indo-Pacific Security Initiative @Mister_G_2, @MansfieldCenter atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atla
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4 Q's (& expert answers) re the curious case of the Chinese spy balloon over Montana-happy to be here w/ colleagues cc Indo-Pacific Security Initiative ,
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Ryder: first of all, we are aware of the PRC statement. However, the fact is, we know that it's a surveillance balloon. And I'm not going to be able to be more specific than that. We do know that the balloon has violated US airspace and international law, which is unacceptable.
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And here we have it: "US halts Blinken China visit after spy balloon row":
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"I will always defend Montana and our national security from hostile adversaries like China" - MT Sen. Jon Tester - this incident sure doesn't make a Blinken visit to Beijing any easier...
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Why didn't the US shoot down the Chinese spy balloon? Here's everything we know right now
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Statement from the Chinese foreign ministry admitting the ‘spy balloon’ is from China, but they say it is a civilian airship that “affected by the westerlies and with limited self-steering capability” deviated from its planned course
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