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2023 Chinese balloon incident

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The balloon seen over Billings, Montana

From January 28 to February 4, 2023, a large, white balloon from China was seen in North American airspace. It passed over South Korea, Japan, Alaska, Canada, and the contiguous United States.[1] The American and Canadian militaries said that the balloon was for surveillance. The Chinese government said that it was a civilian meteorological research airship blown off course.[2]

On February 3, the United States Department of Defense said a second Chinese balloon was passing over Latin America, which China also said belonged to it.[3]

The balloon was shot down on February 4, by the United States Air Force, in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of South Carolina on orders from U.S. President Joe Biden.[4]

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References

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  1. "Chinese spy balloon over US is weather device says Beijing". BBC News. February 3, 2023. Archived from the original on February 6, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  2. Lee, Matthew (February 4, 2023). "Chinese balloon soars across US; Blinken scraps Beijing trip". AP News. Archived from the original on February 5, 2023. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
  3. "Second balloon over Latin America is ours - China". BBC News. February 6, 2023. Archived from the original on February 6, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  4. Brown, Matthew; Pollard, James (February 5, 2023). "Eyes on the sky as Chinese balloon shot down over Atlantic". AP News. Archived from the original on February 5, 2023. Retrieved February 5, 2023.