The Pentagon has released a photo of the transport of the recovered wreckage of a Chinese balloon shot down by US forces off the coast of South Carolina.
On the other hand, the wreckage of flying objects shot down over Alaska and elsewhere has not yet been recovered, and the US government is planning to expedite recovery work.
The US military shot down a Chinese balloon over the southern coast of South Carolina on the 4th of this month.
Regarding this, the US Department of Defense released a new photo on the 13th of the state of the recovery work of the wreckage.
The photo was taken at a U.S. military base in southern Virginia, and shows what appears to be the wreckage of a balloon recovered by U.S. soldiers, placed on a carrier, and transported to an analysis base. .
Defense Secretary Austin told reporters in Belgium, where he was visiting, that he had not yet recovered the wreckage of the flying objects that had been shot down over Alaska and Canada for three consecutive days since the 10th.
According to the U.S. government, the affiliation of these flying objects is still unknown, and they are working with the Canadian military and others to expedite recovery work.
Former Secretary of Defense Esper "Collecting information on US nuclear facilities"
Mark Esper, who served as Secretary of Defense during the previous Trump administration, responded to an interview with NHK on the 13th about the Chinese balloon shot down by the US military.
In this, Mr. Esper said about the purpose of China's balloon flight, ``I want to gather more information about US strategic nuclear facilities and facilities where bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons are located. Another purpose of China's decision to spy is likely to be that it wants to control the Indo-Pacific region by 2049, the 100th anniversary of its founding. "This will further push China-U.S. relations into a vicious circle."
In addition, regarding the fact that a senior Pentagon official revealed that balloons believed to be used for Chinese reconnaissance had been confirmed over the United States at least three times during the Trump administration, Esper said, ``The Office of the Secretary of Defense has this kind of intelligence. No reports were brought about, all of which were only found when the current Biden administration retroactively collected fragmentary information."
In addition, regarding the successive discovery of flying objects in American airspace, he said, ``The United States will strengthen its own defenses and pay more attention to aerospace. "We have to make sure it doesn't happen. China is clearly trying to gather information from other countries, and Japan and other Western countries will need to take the same defensive posture as the United States." .
Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno "Withholds comment"
At a press conference after the cabinet meeting, Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno said, "I am aware that the United States has denied the Chinese side's claims, but I will refrain from commenting at this time. We will continue to monitor and analyze related information. I will go," he said.
In response to a question about the discovery of flying objects such as balloons in Japan, he said, "We are always taking all possible precautions and surveillance, and we are collecting and analyzing information on balloons with great interest. I will refrain from giving exhaustive answers about each piece of information collected and analyzed because it will reveal the ability to gather information."
In addition, he said, "Regarding the method of publication, we will make an appropriate judgment based on a comprehensive consideration of the importance of providing information to the public, including whether the ability to collect information will be clarified." said.