🚨🇹🇼 8 CHINESE BALLONS ENTER TAIWAN

Taiwan’s defense ministry says it had detected eight Chinese balloons crossing the Taiwan Strait in the previous 24 hours.

Source: spectator index pic.twitter.com/zBErpjG1rb

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) February 11, 2024

Of course, after Tucker Carlson’s attempt to pivot away from war in Russia and towards war with the Chinese, all of the sudden the balloons are back.

Reuters:

Taiwan’s defence ministry said on Sunday it had detected eight Chinese balloons crossing the Taiwan Strait in the previous 24 hours, of which five flew across Taiwan, the second day in a row is has reported a large number of balloons.

Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory despite the strong objections of the government in Taipei, has complained since December about the balloons, saying they are a threat to aviation safety and attempt at psychological warfare.

In its daily report on Chinese military activities, Taiwan’s defence ministry said it spotted the first balloon on Saturday morning and the last one mid-afternoon, having spotted the same number of balloons on Friday.

Five crossed the northern and central part of Taiwan, according to a map provided by the ministry.

…

Last month, China’s government dismissed repeated complaints by Taiwan about the balloons, saying they are for meteorological purposes and should not be hyped up for political reasons.

No one who believes in these balloons should be allowed to vote.

In fact, people who believe in these balloons should be forced to work in the mines until they die.

Imagine if your neighbor was flying balloons at you.

Imagine how that would make you feel.

This is why we need to have a war with China.

Reuters:

Taiwan’s defence ministry accused China on Saturday of threatening aviation safety and waging psychological warfare on the island’s people with a recent spate of balloons spotted near or over the island, days before key Taiwanese elections.

The potential for China to use balloons for spying became a global issue in February when the United States shot down what it said was a Chinese surveillance balloon. China said the balloon was a civilian craft that accidentally drifted astray.

Taiwan is on high alert for Chinese military and political activity ahead of the Jan. 13 presidential and parliamentary elections. It says China is exerting military and economic pressure in an attempt to interfere in the elections.

China views the island as its own territory, a claim Taiwan’s government rejects.

Since last month Taiwan’s defence ministry has reported several instances of Chinese balloons flying over the sensitive Taiwan Strait. It said this week some balloons had flown over Taiwan island near major air bases.

🎈Taiwan authorities announced the discovery of a balloon launched by the Beijing army, which flew over the island of Taiwan pic.twitter.com/DkHvLYq2Kd

— S p r i n t e r (@Sprinter99800) January 2, 2024

In a statement on Saturday, the ministry said the balloons were a “serious threat” to international aviation safety given their flight paths.

“We also express our condemnation of the Chinese communists’ disregard for aviation safety and its disregard for the safety of passengers on cross-Taiwan Strait and international flights,” it said.

The ministry said its analysis was that the balloons were part of China’s “grey zone” tactics against Taiwan “in an attempt to use cognitive warfare to affect the morale of our people“.

This was stronger than Taiwan’s previous assertions that the balloons appeared to be mostly for weather monitoring, driven by prevailing winds at this time of year.

Calls seeking comment to China’s defence ministry, Taiwan Affairs Office and civil aviation administration were not answered on Saturday outside of work hours.

…

In a separate statement on Saturday, Taiwan’s defence ministry said that during the previous 24 hours it had detected two more Chinese balloons, one of which briefly flew over the far northern tip of the island.

No one deserves to have balloons flown into their democracy.

No one.

Taiwan’s defense ministry says three Chinese balloons flew over the country on Tuesday, with another crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait. pic.twitter.com/rqndMVi5fS

— TaiwanPlus News (@taiwanplusnews) January 3, 2024

This is just so stupid! The Chinese don’t need to spy on us to know that we barely produce anything, but maybe some genius will decide to ban the cranes and shut down our ports. https://t.co/g2e27GYwEu

— Diane Sare for U.S. Senate (@DianeSare) March 5, 2023

An actual attempt to remove all of the Chinese made equipment from America would totally collapse the country.

If I were the Chinese, I would start saying “we put spy devices in everything, actually, including all of your computers and your vehicles. We’re watching very, very closely.”

RT:

The Pentagon sees giant Chinese-made cranes operating at US ports, including several shipping hubs used by the military, as a potential “Trojan horse” that China could use to gather intelligence on materiel being moved in and out of the country, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.

Fresh from the Chinese “spy balloon” debacle, unnamed “national-security and Pentagon officials” have reportedly turned their attention to yet another alleged espionage tool. While the newspaper did not indicate whether there have been any actual cases of a crane being used for spying, it cited former US counterintelligence official Bill Evanina expressing concerns that it could provide remote access to disrupt the flow of goods.

“Cranes can be the new Huawei,” Evanina said, referring to Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies, whose products had been banned from the US market over similar spying concerns. “It’s the perfect combination of legitimate business that can also masquerade as clandestine intelligence collection.”

…

The reported concerns about cranes are a “paranoia-driven” attempt to obstruct trade and economic cooperation with China, a representative of the Chinese Embassy in Washington told the WSJ. “Playing the ‘China card’ and floating the ‘China threat’ theory is irresponsible and will harm the interests of the US itself.”

The cranes in question are made by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries, known as ZPMC. The company became a major player in the US market by offering high-quality cranes at cheaper prices than Western suppliers. ZPMC has worked with Microsoft and other companies to offer automated systems that can analyze data in real time.

It’s unlikely the feds will actually push for everything made in China to be destroyed or otherwise removed from the country. It’s more likely they’re still in the phase of “creating mass hysteria,” and just seeing how far they can push it.

They must be delighted at how far they can push it.

War with the Chinese, despite the fact that no explanation has been given as to why we would want a war with the Chinese, is the most popular US government policy in decades.