Canada supports U.S. decision to shoot down suspected Chinese spy balloon, Anand says – National | 24CA News
The federal defence minister says Canada “unequivocally supports” the United States authorities’s determination to shoot down a high-altitude surveillance balloon that was suspected of spying for China, noting the balloon violated Canadian airspace.
Fighter jets downed the balloon off the Carolina coast on Saturday afternoon after it had travelled over delicate navy websites throughout North America.
Anita Anand issued an announcement hours later saying she and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had been briefed on the operation by the nationwide safety and intelligence advisor and the chief of the defence workers starting on Friday evening and persevering with Saturday.
Read extra:
Object with balloon ‘characteristics’ flew over Colombia, air pressure confirms
Read subsequent:
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy revokes citizenship of quite a few former politicians
She mentioned Canada has been intently engaged with its American counterparts on the choice and went on to thank the U.S. for its shut collaboration.
A Pentagon official described the item as a manoeuverable surveillance balloon flying at an altitude of about 18,288 metres, with a “payload” or basket beneath.
On Friday, Anand’s workplace declined to touch upon whether or not the balloon flew over Canadian airspace, however her Saturday assertion says it “violated U.S. and Canadian airspace and international law.”
“Officials in the national security community have been working bi-nationally and Canada has been closely engaged with its U.S. counterparts on the decision and unequivocally supports the actions taken,” Anand mentioned within the assertion.
U.S. President Joe Biden mentioned on Saturday he ordered U.S. officers to shoot down the balloon earlier this week and that nationwide safety leaders determined the most effective time for the operation was when it moved over water.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has mentioned the balloon was a civilian airship used primarily for meteorological analysis that “deviated far from its planned course” due to winds.
Anand famous Saturday that Norad, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, had been “tracking and analyzing the trajectory and actions” of the balloon.
“The co-operation between Canada and the United States through Norad ensures the security and defense of North American air sovereignty, and we thank its members for having the watch,” she mentioned.
Pentagon officers have mentioned one of many locations the balloon was noticed was over the state of Montana, which is house to one in every of America’s three nuclear missile silo fields at Malmstrom Air Force Base.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin mentioned in an announcement the choice to shoot down the balloon “safely” over U.S. waters was “taken in coordination, and with the full support, of the Canadian government.”
“And we thank Canada for its contribution to tracking and analysis of the balloon through Norad as it transited North America,” Austin mentioned within the assertion.
Global Affairs Canada mentioned Friday that officers summoned Chinese Ambassador Cong Peiwu to specific disapproval over the balloon.
U.S. officers additionally introduced Secretary of State Antony Blinken was suspending a deliberate high-stakes weekend diplomatic journey to China.
© 2023 The Canadian Press
