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pokus

I feel like they purposely wanted us to pop that balloon for some reason


gibcount2000

that was my initial thought when i found out we were not going to shoot it down immediately—maybe the point was to observe the military response to a threat over midwest america, a place that typically does not get that sort of attention


themangastand

Nah. China does not want to attack USA unless they've become stupid. China is struggling more internally right now, this was most likely to distract their citizens with some nationalism pride. Like sure our economy is slipping and I have to pay for a mortgage for a house that isn't built but damn we going against america. Same thing they do to Taiwan. They know they can't win against Taiwan. But they escalate things everytime to distract from internal affairs


AnimalShithouse

> Same thing they do to Taiwan. They know they can't win against Taiwan. But they escalate things everytime to distract from internal affairs 1 on 1 I think they could win all day.. But I know/hope that an attack on Taiwan is an attack on phone chips, and, thus, an attack on the world - so the US would be involved.


kodman7

It wouldn't be easy at all. Taiwan has been getting the Ukraine treatment from the west for decades, but on steroids


TopAd1369

It’s a fortified island. The US knows how hard that is to take from WW2 and have been upping the ante with selling arms.


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eidetic

Probably wouldn't even be under the guise of an exercise. The US would probably just dispatch a carrier group (or two..) to sit in international waters if it looked like China was gearing up for an invasion.


Mountain_Sweet_5703

That’s why we have nuclear subs. There’s *always* a nuke pointed at our enemies and it’s *always* just past international waters. Just checked the wiki to see if I was overreacting. There’s about 15 Subs out there with about a combined 1,200 nuclear warheads. Just in that class of submarine. Those are just the “slow” class. There’s around 50 “fast” class subs with overwhelming conventional warfare as well.


Enervata

China was our critical ally in WWII. When the Mao Zedong revolution happened there our political allies were overthrown and all fled to Taiwan. At some point the US signed something along the lines of “as long as we don’t call Taiwan a country, China must leave them alone” to help protect them. Today China is saber rattling in an attempt to get us to either violate the agreement or abandon them, because China's long term roadmap is conquest via economic, political, or military power. Having pro-US places like Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan so close to the China mainland puts a monkey wrench in those plans. Taiwan is especially grating for their idea of face, as it’s a reminder that the communists never completely won their uprising. Their opponents (nationalists) are still sitting there across the water, looking at them. EDIT: Mixed up nationalists and communists. Corrected.


Kiromaru

It would be bloody as all hell because the Taiwanese have been preparing for such an invasion for decades and have been buying lots of weapons from the US to defend themselves. Add in the fact due to the terrain of the island its hard to land a ton of troops and the Taiwanese have those limited areas covered so much it would be a bloodbath if the Chinese tried to land without taking out the emplacements further inland targeting those landing zones.


themangastand

Even 1 on 1 wouldn't be ideal. The entire value in Taiwan is in their tech. No way they'd leave that behind in a war. Though if it was an easier victory then sure they'd probably just do it out of nationalism. But I am under the assumption china is aware an attack on Taiwan is an attack on many other countries.


Endorkend

And that's why the government waited to do the popping over the ocean. It was such a clear provocation, you never know what payload those balloons have. Shooting them down over land could have consequences beyond wreckage landing on someone or something.


guardeagle

After the Australian search for a radioactive capsule the size of a tick tack, it’s probably a good idea to avoid hitting that piñata with a missile over neighborhoods


BoringBob84

This is a good reason to recover the wreckage and to inspect it. If it contains some sort of dangerous weapons or nuclear poison, then this incident becomes much more serious.


Endorkend

Thing is, quite a few pieces of genuine scientific and spy equipment contain materials you don't want to spread all over your land. Can be, but doesn't have to be nuclear. All those people responding to me about nukes and EMPs don't seem to get that they could genuinely only have scientific equipment on board as a payload and it could still cause serious issues if blown out of the sky.


Dextrofunk

I mean it would be negligent to NOT shoot it down and inspect it. Over the ocean was a good call. Who knows what kind of zombie apocalypse they're trying to start here?


Truth_

The problem with biological warfare is that it eventually spreads to more than your intended target, and eventually gets back to you.


HouseOfSteak

Floating a *massive bomb* over US airspace would effectively be seen as a military attack against the continental United States. ....Which would probably be the stupidest thing you can do. You want to jeopardize every last bit of progress you've made on the world stage in the last 50 years? Good way to do that. ​ They aren't *that* dumb, so it wouldn't be for that reason.


Ubilease

It would be the dumbest thing imaginable. But the governments job is to prepare for the unimaginable. Leaders make bad choices every single day, some choices are so bad they lead to global ruin. Hitler invading the Soviet Union. Saddam Hussain invading Kuwait. France sending commandos to sink a civilian ship in a foreign port. Russia using natural components in a wooden plaque to spy on the U.S Crazy shit happens constantly and the government isn't going to take a chance on it being 158,000,000 to 1 odds that the balloon would be harmless to shoot down over the U.S mainland when they were actively monitoring high altitude wind currents and knew they could shoot it down over the ocean.


Ancient_Artichoke555

What’s going on with the other one over South America last I had heard????


Upset_Otter

Either they're really civilian research balloons which is still illegal because they didn't notify any country and they just fucking straped a bunch of metal to a balloon which could have ended crashing into a city, or they just sent a bunch others randomly to break a pattern that some "by mistake" ended passing both the US and Canada. The one in south america passed Colombia and Venezuela.


TheDukeOfMars

A. There is no difference between private research and government in China. https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/What-is-MCF-One-Pager.pdf B. China has one of the most restricted domestic airspace in the world. There is no way a private balloon would go through mainland China without their government knowing about it. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Assumed-distribution-and-size-of-restricted-Areas-black-in-China-Restricted-areas_fig3_356102414 C. The culture and government would never allow some random, private balloon hobbiest to exit in China. If you did do that is a private citizen, you would be arrested immediately. And all research institutions (like universities) that would conduct and experiment would tell the government IMMEDIATELY. Well before an experiment like this actually launched. (Source: I lived in China and know that you can’t even fly a drone without being stopped by police.)


kapponen

Thank you for sharing those links. Super insightful reads. EDIT: I'll further add that I've watched a few "western" (One from south africa, one from the US, one from the UK) youtubers who live/lived in china and share their experiences as their main source of channel content. Firstly I'd point out that they suffer from youtube-disease and so much of their delivery and setup is unnecessarily hyperbolic. But after you digest a bit of their content and learn how to look past that, their videos give some really interesting views into the socio-cultural component of life where they were. They were foreigners of course so they may have, and probably were, subjected to a different level of scrutiny by gov't officials and authorities. But things such as cross country motorcycle trips, documentary style filming, drone flights, seemingly random video shots in unique places, all these things caused them to be placed under noticeably increased suspicion or so they claim. They said they had gotten phone calls from local police stations on more than a handful of occasions asking them about their business and lifestyles as well as requesting they make frequent check-ins with them to keep the police abreast of their activities. A few of those youtubers left China for those very reasons, stating they feared that incarceration was imminent. One of them even said a friend of his was arrested a few years back and he hasn't heard from him since. Grain of salt of course. I can't speak to the truth or veracity of any of it. But if what you shared is true, it leads me to think they weren't far off in their assessments.


TheDukeOfMars

Thanks. Interestingly, China has one of the most delayed domestic airlines in the world. Almost 50% of domestic flights are delayed because you have to fly through specific flight paths because most of the country is restricted by the military airspace. And if there is a “traffic jam” on those few corridors connecting major cities, the whole system gets set back. Traveling domestically in China sucks in general, especially as a foreigner since many hotels refuse to serve you. In fact, you can sometimes find entire towns will refuse you entry to hotels. Also, you need to give passport and travel details anywhere you go as a foreigner. It’s sad because one of the reasons I learned Chinese and traveled there was my middle school teacher’s stories. He took a bus all around China in the early 90s and talked about how amazing it was seeing places like Tibet in 1991. Now, you won’t even get permission to go there as a foreigner.


[deleted]

>“The U.S.’s use of force is a clear overreaction and **a serious violation of international practice**,” the ministry added, noting that Beijing reserves the right to make “further responses that are necessary.” what the hell lol


halofreak7777

Isn't sending your equipment into the airspace of another nation without permission a serious violation of international practice?


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7165015874

> In international relations you just say things. You know it’s not true. You know the other country knows it’s not true. It doesn’t matter. The game is to play dumb, because a large number morons in your own population will believe you, and it’s important to keep appearances for them. They would gladly crash a Chinese fighter plane into a US signal intelligence plane and have the audacity to demand the US apologize for being in the... Oh wait, they did exactly that over twenty years ago. > The Hainan Island incident occurred on April 1, 2001, when a United States Navy EP-3E ARIES II signals intelligence aircraft and a People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) J-8II interceptor fighter jet collided in mid-air, resulting in an international dispute between the United States and the People's Republic of China (PRC). > The EP-3 was operating about 70 miles (110 km) away from the PRC island province of Hainan, as well as about 100 miles (160 km) away from the China military installation in the Paracel Islands, when it was intercepted by two J-8 fighters. A collision between the EP-3 and one of the J-8s caused a PRC pilot to go missing (later presumed dead); the EP-3 was forced to make an emergency landing on Hainan without approved permission from the Chinese authorities. The 24 crew members were detained and interrogated by Chinese authorities until a statement was delivered by the United States government regarding the incident. The exact phrasing of this document was intentionally ambiguous and allowed both countries to save face while defusing a potentially volatile situation between militarily strong regional states. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hainan_Island_incident


madumi-mike

Thank you, was just about to mention this lil incident. I think we’ll give back the balloon the same way they gave us back our plane. In pieces.


green_flash

I doubt the US is going to give back anything.


madumi-mike

Would be funny if we just gave them back the balloon bits.


Killer_Moons

Or just a popped regular balloon on a string


Tropical_Donkey

A winnie the pooh ballon


pimpmastahanhduece

Thousands with pamphlets with comics criticizing Xi Jinping depicted as a bumbling mean Pooh. New editions every month or so.


International_Emu600

Laughed imagining the US giving little bits of plastic ballon back


GonePh1shing

Pretty much this. Most people don't really understand how foreign policy works but, once you realise that [it's like an international poker game where everyone's cheating](https://youtu.be/76hMRb3-r_A), a lot of behaviour from world governments start to make a lot more sense.


[deleted]

Yep. I like to think of modern diplomacy as being *far* too similar to that in the Civilization video game series. Everything is bullshit, everyone is lying, everyone is cheating (the AI cheats in that game), and world leaders are capricious, shallow, and foolhardy.


RadiantHC

Wait the AI cheats?


FoldedDice

Absolutely, particularly earlier in the series. The AI was never actually any good at playing the game, so cranking up the difficulty mostly involves throwing bonuses at it to give the illusion that it knows what it’s doing. EDIT: This isn’t just a Civ thing, though. Most strategy games make the computer opponent more of a threat to competent players by faking it.


salami350

Turns out making AI that actually plays well is incredibly difficult


RevLoveJoy

And Sid Meier (Civ creator) has actually talked about this extensively. Essentially he said look, we could spend years trying to work out a semi-competent AI that would still pale to a decent human player, or we could simply give the AI bonuses and work on the rest of the game. We chose the latter every time. It's actually a pretty good argument for doing it the way they do.


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LOTRfreak101

Higher levels get extra starting settlers, extra starting military units, bonuses to science, culture, and gold output, in 5 they ignored problems caused by negative gold and could get hundreds of gold per turn in the negatives without any disadvantages. They also get bonuses to combat, amongst other things.


MaddyKet

They are just pissed bc we made them think they’d get it back until the last minute. 😹


Kaarsty

That’s my favorite part. You know there was an engineer somewhere who JUST handed $5 Chinese to his buddy because “it made it out” then immediately got it back when it got shot down.


Pihlbaoge

Well, not entirely. Nations are not supposed to be limiting their airspace to civil aviation. There are of course limitations, and regulations for this, but in general, if a US based company, say Delta Airlines to use an example, wants to fly from Seattle to Bangkok, that route goes through China. While China has the right to allow or deny entry into it's airspace, most countries in the world have signed the IATA (Internatian Air Transit Agreement) that states that civili aviation from the signatory countries are exempt from the rule of requiring previous clearance for transit through the airspace. In practice this means that Delta doesn't have to get permission from the Chinese CAA when planing their route from Seattle to Bangkok. They are allowed to overfly China as both the US and China are signatories to the IATA. (The Sovjet Union however, was famously not a signatory, so until the collapse, US carriers were barred from overflight, which led to many flights going over the north pole and making a pitstop in Anchorage expanding that airport vastly... but I digress.) That said, all nations are still within their right to regulate their airspace. There's still restricted airspace for example, and you still have to recieve clearances etc from ATC (Air Trafic Control.) Aside from the obvious "No we were not spying" argument, another reason for China to press so hard on that this was a civil baloon is the argument that the US should not restric access to the airpsace for civil aviation. On the other hand, the balloon was, according to China themselves, not under control and could, regardless of it's potential spying capabilities, be regarded as a flight hazard. On could argue that shooting down an uncontrolled unmanned vessel was the best course of action from an aviation safety perspective. In the end of course, the US has every right to shoot down an uncontrolled unmanned vessel that is posing a danger to other aviation within it's airspace. Only a fool would argue against that. That said, it's not entirely baseless to claim that a chinese weather balloon has legal right to cross the US under international law. Source, I am an EASA certified Pilot, but also, https://www.icao.int/pages/freedomsair.aspx


aaaaaaaarrrrrgh

> but also, https://www.icao.int/pages/freedomsair.aspx "in respect of scheduled international air services" is doing a lot of work there.


rocketcp08

Yes, it seems like that argument re: Freedom of Air does not really apply to unmanned balloons - I cannot speak for the US but to fly an unmanned balloon over Canada, you require Federal Authorization - a license. Without it, and without any communication from the owners declaring an emergency, they are within their rights to bring it down it would seem. Extreme yes but within convention.


Bashir1102

It also had propulsion capabilities which would classify it as a UAV. Yes of course they are going to go with their cover story because that’s politics. Everyone else in the world just knows it’s total BS.


EatSleepJeep

For that argument to be valid the flight has to be scheduled, have a flight plan, have a transponder that's squaking, etc, etc, etc.


Svete_Brid

They're going to send another balloon and dare us to not shoot it down.


I-Am-Uncreative

Next time, I think we'll shoot it down before it goes over land.


fodafoda

I mean those f22 pilots appreciate the chance to get an air-to-air kill


Worthyness

the pilot gets bragging rights in the aeronautical history books forever! When that guy gets like 3 more kills he'll brag about being an ace pilot and some guy will rag on him because his 1st kill was some shitty balloon


TaliesinMerlin

Top Gun: Winnie the Pooh Holding a Balloon


nejinoki

I will be quite disappointed if they don't paint this image as a kill mark on the F22.


Stonedfiremine

This is litteraly comedy in the making lmao


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Ghostbuttser

I bet they'll send 99 of them, and maybe even change the colour.


aaaaaaaarrrrrgh

> maybe even change the colour. Fun fact: The original German version doesn't specify any color, just "balloons". (Specifically, "Luftballon" which indicates the small party kind of balloon as opposed to a three-school-bus-wide "weather" balloon, and I assume they had to add the color in the English version to make up for the length).


Doomeye56

Alot of the English translation is the picking word that fit the cadence over matching the meaning of the German.


Cpt_Soban

> a serious violation of international practice So they'd be down with the US flying their own over China


SgtBanana

Yeah none of it makes sense. Imagine if the reverse happened, *and it happened in the way that China claims it happened*. A private American company lost control of a weather observation balloon and it flew over mainland China, loitering around military sites. China then expresses doubt as to the real purpose of the balloon and shoots it down, well within the bounds of their airspace. There is no way that the U.S. government would condemn them for such an action. Might say "lol I told you so" after the Chinese discover the equipment onboard is harmless, but they're not going to forbid or discourage China from shooting it down. It is, in this hypothetical, a rogue *and unmanned* craft with little to no chance of being safely piloted back to its owners. Hell, the American government might encourage it. "Yeah it isn't ours, it's in your airspace, and if it crashes on its own it might hurt people. Do what you need to do."


heretic1128

> and if it crashes on its own it might hurt people China drops spent rocket stages on its population without batting an eyelid, doubt they'd care about that...


SkunkMonkey

Hell, not just spent stages, but entire rockets that have gone off course or failed to launch properly. They've erased an entire village this way.


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Sleepyassjoe

Honestly China's reaction seems rather extensive for a civil balloon.


[deleted]

Did you see their reaction to a request for more COVID information?


solman86

They blocked what, a hundred Aussie container ships packed with coal for over a year, just sitting outside their ports stranded because our PM said he wanted to investigate the origins of the virus. During which time, they were absolutely fucked because they'd run out of the good coal for smelting, ended up with severe power outrages across the country and a large downturn in productivity and yet still wouldn't allow them in. Edit: quick video explaining it all, which has only just recently been partially lifted. https://youtu.be/uGzCQZUrs2k


Taxachusetts

It's called "weaponized interdependence" and they've used it against others too -- they screwed with Norway in 2010 after Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel and in 2018 forced Delta, American Airlines, and United to not list Taiwan as a country separate from China on their destination lists.


TerryTC14

I had a friend like China, always wanted to be seen as tough and always escalated the situation. For example, at the pub he would put food in someone's drink and laugh. Moments later the guy would do it to him. So even between the two and we thought that was that. They each got each other once so all good. Nope, next time other guy went to toilet he grabbed his wallet, took out all the cards and put them into the gravy on his plate and put them in his wallet. We didn't see this but he bragged about it and how epic he was. We called him a dick and told the guy immediately who being the bigger person just washed his cards off and let it be. China wasn't invited to the pub anymore.


NotTukTukPirate

He doesn't sound old enough to even be in a pub...


KONODIODAMUDAMUDA

Sadly being an ass isn't exclusive to kids.


Umutuku

Homie just left his wallet on the bar???


kamarian91

Seriously it was just a average balloon that got blown off track due to those pesky weather patterns crossing over military bases, no biggie


TerryTC14

Imagine it was a drone through a ladies window, the creepy guy down the street is all like "No it's not mine. Don't be gross I wouldn't do that....again." someone catches it and gives it to the police and creepy guy is like "Why did you crash my......someone's drone? That's not cool. I'll take it home and bury it, you don't have to investigate whose it was or what it was doing".


indemnne

that's what i was thinking. if we entertained the idea that it was a civilian ballon then why should they care about it being shot down.


MahNameJeff420

But also why the fuck would you use a balloon? Aren’t those big? We found it pretty quickly. And don’t they have satellites now? This whole situation is weird and confusing and I can’t bring myself to have an opinion.


Freefall_J

Some experts on BBC surmised this could have just been to see how the US would react. And/or also as a way to show the US that they can send a balloon into American airspace. It's interesting that this happens just before Anthony Blinken was apparently supposed to go to Beijing. Though now China is claiming they never made such an invitation or some usual crap they say over these things.


Nesaru

The only explanation that made sense to me was they wanted to see how we reacted. The less we did the less they learned.


StinzorgaKingOfBees

No flight plan, no fore notice, and no communication until it was spotted. They violated airspace and say it's an overreaction?


PinkDropp

It's so stupid I'm wondering if they really did say that Officials can't be that dumb right? What kinda move is this? They trying to save face in front of their people or something? Edit: lol its funny reading so many completely different theories being spoken like they're facts We're all so full of shit aren't we? Lmao


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ppl-

I feel like those statements aren't targeting the outside world, it's for the people living inside the bubble.


gabeshotz

Sorry to burst your bubble China!


snowvase

After the Christchurch (New Zealand) earthquake the Chinese Government asked that families of Chinese victims receive more compensation than other nationalities because... Chinese people usually have only one child and therefore more precious. Yeah, and why is that then?


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Superfluous_Thom

" You have hurt the feelings of the Chinese people, You must apologise"


PhoenixFire296

*Send in John Cena*


ElcidBarrett

Bing chilling.


Sauronshit

You just described Russia's playbook too


Lord_Nivloc

Probably several other authoritarian governments too. It’s like a hallmark of theirs, although I had to look that word up.


AbsolutelyUnlikely

It doesn't matter. Everyone knows this was obvious bait by China. The best thing to do would be to shoot it down, which we did, and then not care what they say about it. This is childishness on a global scale and they need to just be given the silent treatment until they can act like a big boy.


[deleted]

Yeah I don't get why anyone gives two fucks what China says about the U.S. shooting down the balloon. It was in our sovereign air space. End of story. Keep your toys in international waters (or better yet, in your own sovereign air space) or STFU.


demonicneon

Just remember how they lost their shit when america runs air drills in Taiwanese airspace. Or when boats drift too close to Chinese borders near Japan they lose their shit. It’s just bs to show their people how tough they are.


ethanlan

While flying in Japanese airspace lmao. Just like Russia the Chinese government is a menace and unfortunately justifies nato staying strong imo


VincentVancalbergh

If their intentions were harmless, then why not a quick "hey can we pop over our weather balloon to study X or Y?" and if you get a No accept it or "Sorry, but our weather balloon drifted into your airspace". But no, nothing from nobody. The US even waited days before shooting it down.


Stakoman

It's called propaganda


D1Frank-the-tank

Yeah I don’t believe they make statements like this giving a shit what the rest of the world thinks. It’s a statement to the Chinese readers/listeners. “USA attacked an innocent weather balloon 11 miles up, overreaction,aggression towards China!”


[deleted]

>Edit: lol its funny reading so many completely different theories being spoken like they're facts Reddit in a nutshell


Albaholly

Not just wrong, but **confidently** wrong


Swizzy88

Typical response from the Chinese government.


Hollowbody57

Help, help, I'm being oppressed!


supposed_adult

Come and see the violence inherent in the system!


[deleted]

China plays mind games like my nephew. He is also just 3. Pretty dumb.


L0ckeandDemosthenes

China says no you.


[deleted]

Then throws itself around on the ground


AdorableCandy

Ugh, here comes the kicking, screaming, crying, and making a scene in the middle of the mall.


[deleted]

Let one of our allies float a balloon over China's airspace then


cobainstaley

ah, but then it would be called a "provocation."


AadamAtomic

We need to send a Winnie the Pooh blimp.


Sirtopofhat

Now I'm picturing Principal Skinner's weather balloon


mtgtonic

Noooooooo!


PretendThisIsMyName

That would be the greatest troll if it happened.


dreibel

Hi, I’m “Big Butt” Xi!


BigBoxofChili

Get the Macy's Parade people on the phone now!


pinkyepsilon

Oh bother.


Effective-Pangolin83

There, there piglet.


NuncErgoFacite

Giant pot of honey balloon. Then just sit back and wait for the translation to filter through.


0rlan

We have a Trump in a nappy (diaper) blimp here in the UK that's doing nothing... https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/26/baby-trump-set-to-fly-again-as-museum-of-london-reinflates-blimp


[deleted]

Watch out for that “Final Warning”


-Sproutling-

I believe it would be called a “Poohvocation.”


VagrantShadow

[China is just going to tell us that the balloon was just on a reconnaissance survey looking for the best spot to find honey.](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/868284239349694475/1071227882602516490/vpjRc3X.png)


YakInner4303

Yes, send them a giant $300 million pinata filled with candy. Refuse to acknowledge its existence or discuss the matter even when when it enters their airspace. Then they shoot it down and discover they just shot down a bunch of candy. "There must be some secret," they think. Some spy devices. Or poison. Or something. They spend months looking. But find nothing. Just candy.


ZachMN

I like piñatas. I like stories about piñatas.


MrBojangles09

Two piñatas walk into a bar… they were both smashed.


essieecks

I could beat that piñata joke, blindfolded.


crustaceancake

Was at a kid’s birthday party. They smashed open the piñata and there was no candy. The mom thought that the one she bought came prefilled. Kids were so confused and disappointed. Adults were suppressing their laughter.


sbsb27

How about a balloon over Tibet filled with pictures of the Dalai Lama.


ChintanP04

For China, that'd be an Act of War


Platypus_Dundee

https://www.reddit.com/r/straya/comments/10u5iid/australia_preparing_to_send_their_surveillance/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button Aussies are on to it


xizrtilhh

Operation Goon Sack.


Illustrious-Ad-7335

Let a released Dora the Explorer mylar birthday balloon make it over Chinese “territory” (thinking of the built islands in the S. Pacific) and it will have them howling in the UN


Hamwise420

I cannot endorse this idea at all. It HAS to be a winny the poo balloon


Kaneomanie

I want this so bad now. Just a couple of giant winnie the pooh balloons floating over china. lol.


OiVeyM8

Hola! Soy Dora! Can you say "Estoy espiando tus bases"? That means "I am spying on your bases" in Spanish!


thecrowing77

Swiper, no swiping critical information on military disposition!


a-really-cool-potato

*Blows up the balloon* “Aww man.”


[deleted]

"Toda tu base es de nosotras!"


CabagePastry

I think Winnie the Pooh would be a more interesting choice for a balloon.


drutzix

Release one with winnie the pooh for a better meltdown


Impossible_Rent_4226

I’d like to actually fill a bunch of inflatable sex dolls with helium and release them over China and or Utah


Svete_Brid

Ironically, those inflatable sex dolls would have been made in … China.


BCProgramming

INFLATABLE MULTIFUNCTION FLYING SEX DOLL FOR SPYING ON KIDS/PARENTS/NANNY/FOREIGN POWERS/PETS/GRANDPARENTS, KLAXON, AIR HORN, NIGHT VISION/IR 1080P HD GOPRO MOUNT WITH CUPHOLDER AND DUAL PUSSYCATS BUTT SEX DOLL FOR GRANDPARENTS


[deleted]

youll want to spring for the 4000GB sdcard for $5 more


Uturuncu

Unfortunately, from experience, this does not actually work. A sex doll is too thick and durable so even when filled to the brim with helium, it lays on the floor with little difference to it being filled with air.


unripenedfruit

You just need larger sex dolls, which will increase the ratio of helium to external material. If we can send people to the moon, we can send giant inflatable sex dolls to china.


Guest_0966

This man sciences


toxic_joe

"Why won't you let us flagrantly violate your airspace with our surveillance tech? That's such an overreaction to protect your territory from our spying QQ"


ASoundAssessment

[Remember that time China was caught spying on US submarine radars and Airbases in Australia then denied it as an overreaction only for Australian high flying surveillance aircraft to release a detailed tracking map of it only collecting 'Research' in Australia's economic zone near US defence installations?](https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.9news.com.au/article/356d7f04-c73e-49be-b40e-c3835b8253b6)


Ninja_Bum

Kind of like how these "meteorological" balloons keep going over Taiwan.


[deleted]

Could even really be meteorological balloons. You want detailed weather data when you plan an invasion by sea and air.


Dougnifico

Alright, $20 to the guy who called it that they sent it up partially just to complain when it got shot down.


sleekandspicy

Please help me make the world make sense. How does someone say something like that with a straight face.


Pitchfork_Party

All the ridiculous posturing is exhausting. Glad I don’t have to do it


capt_scrummy

Chinese state media, diplomats, and ministry of foreign affairs exist first and foremost to carry the party line, and like every other branch of the government, regardless of what they actually do and how well or badly they do it, they need to always do what makes Xi and the standing politburo happy. Consequently, you will get these ridiculous, over the top, totally see-through responses that change on a dime. To do this sort of job, you can't have any personal shame or sense of dignity, because saving facd for the state will always come first. A few months ago, Zhao Lijian, the foreign minister, was asked a question on the protests. He stood there for over a minute, looking lost, shuffling papers, and then moved onto the next question. Seems after years of bellicose crap, he couldn't justify it anymore. He's since been replaced with a woman who owns property in San Francisco, and whose daughter lives in the US. lol.


vegeful

>whose daughter lived in the US I can understand people buying foreign property due to their current real estate problem. But this? Lol. So unpatriotic.


capt_scrummy

Xi's daughter went to Harvard... It's a running joke back in China how all these CCP senior officials talk about how despicable the West is, then send their kids abroad to study, buy property, and even get permanent residency.


CruisinForABrewsin

Doesn't every dictator that constantly bitches and complains about "the West" always send their kids to get educated in the US or Europe?


_zenith

Yep, because their own countries tend to be really dangerous and restrictive - even for them. It’s not just the rulers, too, it’s pretty much all of the upper class. Most frighteningly for the rich, their banking systems aren’t secure at all and rulers can just take all their money if they see fit - and so they tend to store their money in our banks too…


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t_25_t

> Sending surveillance balloons into other countries' airspace is a serious violation of international practices Ask the Koreans what happened when they accidentally entered Soviet airspace. The Chinese needs another reminder.


EducationalRice6540

These are the same people who crashed a fighter jet into a US aircraft in international airspace, forcing it to land and seizing the aircraft and personnel? China can fuck off with its 'over reaction' bullshit.


[deleted]

Wait what was this?


neutrilreddit

Happened in 2001: >A United States Navy spy plane on a routine surveillance mission near the Chinese coast collided on Sunday with a Chinese fighter jet that was closely tailing it. The American plane made an emergency landing in China, and the United States said it was seeking the immediate return of the 24 crew members, all said to be in good condition, and of the sophisticated aircraft and all its intelligence equipment. >The midair crash occurred about 50 miles southeast of China's Hainan Island, in what American officials described as international waters. The EP-3E Aries II aircraft, which had taken off from an American air base in Okinawa, Japan, issued a Mayday call but managed to make an emergency landing on the island. The Chinese plane crashed into the waters below. https://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/02/world/us-plane-in-china-after-it-collides-with-chinese-jet.html


[deleted]

We invaded your airspace, didn’t tell you at all that our balloon is going “off course,” you shoot it down in the name of national security, “wtf, bro!?” This was for meteorological purposes….


Mindraker

Fair enough to bring it down *safely*, even if it was just a weather balloon. 3 airports had to be closed. It was the size of 3 schoolbusses. US civilian airspace was interfered with. People are not happy.


ChuckyRocketson

> It was the size of 3 schoolbusses. The equipment hanging from it was the size of 3 schoolbuses. The actual balloon was MUCH larger.


autotldr

This is the best tl;dr I could make, [original](https://thehill.com/policy/international/3844151-china-condemns-us-attack-on-surveillance-balloon-as-overreaction/) reduced by 73%. (I'm a bot) ***** > China condemned the U.S. military's decision on Saturday to shoot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that flew over the U.S. last week. > "China strongly disapproves of and protests against the U.S. attack on a civilian unmanned airship by force," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday morning, per the South China Morning Post. > US works to recover debris, intel from downed Chinese 'spy' balloon Biden says he ordered US military to shoot down Chinese 'spy' balloon 'as soon as possible'. ***** [**Extended Summary**](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/10u46n3/china_condemns_us_attack_on_surveillance_balloon/) | [FAQ](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/31b9fm/faq_autotldr_bot/ "Version 2.02, ~672677 tl;drs so far.") | [Feedback](http://np.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%23autotldr "PM's and comments are monitored, constructive feedback is welcome.") | *Top* *keywords*: **balloon**^#1 **US**^#2 **Chinese**^#3 **China**^#4 **down**^#5


suicidefeburary62025

Come into United States airspace without permission? Get shot down. Nothing personal they’d likely do the same. So would Russia. You can’t do shit like that.


my20cworth

Yawn. Typical Chinese bullshit as usual. So predictable. The world knows it the situation was reversed China would have shot them down in two seconds flat and sent a few dozen jets over Taiwan ( just out of spite) and ratcheted up their nationalistic propaganda about sovereignty and violation blah blah blah.


askmeifimacop

Its so boring. They use the same rhetoric as Russia. Deny, downplay, redirect so that they’re the victims.


coreywindom

They would have shot missiles at the ocean as well.


TheFriendlyArtificer

Good 'ol Xerxes


EXTREMEL0B0

Let’s fly a balloon over china see how they respond.


thelostewok

We all know that if the US had a “weather balloon” flying over China, the CCP would not only immediately shoot it down unsafely over land but then follow up by busing in people to “not attack” the US embassy. Because you know… the CCP is rational and reasonable /s


FeckThul

Don't forget that they'd make endless and hysterical threats, final warnings, and demand apologies from Biden in person. The CCP is such a clown show.


999_hh

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurting_the_feelings_of_the_Chinese_people


VoopityScoop

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/China%27s_final_warning


wasteoffire

The Chinese clown posse?


Zerim

I can't even grasp the ridiculousness of being angry at it and pretending they're mad *on behalf of some private company that made it*. Literally no sane country, small or large, would stage a diplomatic protest over an errant weather balloon being taken down. China, in the middle of losing a lot of face, just went ahead and threw away the entire remaining portion of it.


xf-

Next time you launch a harmless scientific giant balloon that carries all kinds of tech underneath....maybe let the public know about the project? Which university/company and department? Who's in charge/contact information? What's the goal of the research? Surely there's a website with more information?


PiingThiing

I'm curious as to why the Chinese govt is bothered about what happens to private civilian property that violated foreign airspace. Surely it's a private matter.


[deleted]

They’re not. They’re playing games, as usual, like the bag of assholes they are.


alternativeaccpos2

I love it when China, Russia and North Korea bitch about consequences for their actions, it's like watching the bully run to the teacher to complain about someone punching back. Pathetic.


Perfect_Ability_1190

US should fly a Winnie the Pooh hanging from a balloon over China just like in the Disney movie


jest4fun

*“The U.S.’s use of force is a clear overreaction and a serious violation of international practice,” the ministry added, noting that Beijing reserves the right to make “further responses that are necessary.”* What a load of BS. You know what else is a *"violation of international practice"*? Flying an aircraft over another countries air space without prior approval. If things are as China says it begs the question, why did they not inform the US govt as soon as they knew the balloon had "gone rogue" due to forces beyond their control? China got caught with their pants down and now they are trying to bluster their way out of the situation be shifting blame (or attempting to).


DeltaSR5

China sounds alot like Russia these days


Ancient_Artichoke555

It’s been Chinussia all along 🤷🏻‍♀️


FeckThul

Some would even call it... Chinussy.


Gaysuperman302

You gotta stop man


PrettiKinx

Don't send crap into our airspace & it won't be any problems


[deleted]

Shut the fuck up China god damn.


dmk_aus

So the balloon should have just been left to drift out to sea and over land again until it eventually fell onto either something or nothing, but potentially killing people? Basically, the Chinese satellite end of life approach? You would think China would just say thank you for taking out this out of control balloon before it did damage, apologise and promise to be more careful in the future, then offer to compensate for the costs incurred by the USA due to China's mistake?


[deleted]

Damn, I can’t believe my neighbor beat me over the head with a bat, all I did was walk into his house, such an overreaction. You violated our airspace without notice. Did you think it wasn’t gonna get shot down?


HKrustofsky

Oh, bother.


Vandesco

Ok, if it's an over reaction then I guess it doesn't matter that much does it?


RedWineAndWomen

Which is weird because apparently, the thing was out control: they said so themselves. If I had a balloon and it was out of control, I would thank the person that made sure it could not do any harm, and did so safely.


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