A Chinese spy balloon flying over US airspace in Montana signals that the country is preparing its citizens for war, an expert on US-China relations told Fox News Digital.
“THE #ChineseSpyBalloon proves it to us #China is preparing to go to war,” Gordon Chang, a columnist and author who has written several books on China, tweeted Friday following the discovery of a Chinese surveillance balloon over Montana the day before.
“We know what the Chinese are doing,” Chang explained. “They are engaged in the fastest military buildup since World War II. They are trying to sanction their regime and, most threateningly, they are preparing Chinese civilians for war.”
Chang pointed to a recent move by Chinese President Xi Jinping shortly after he was nominated for his previous third term as secretary general at the National Congress in October when he appointed what he referred to as the “war cabinet”.
TRUMP JOINS BIDEN ADMIN’S CALL TO ‘TAKE DOWN’ SUSPECTED CHINESE SPY BALLOON
“China is preparing to go to war,” said Chang, author of “The Coming Collapse of China.” “It is engaged in extremely provocative and dangerous activities around its periphery, and war could come at any time and anywhere.”
Chang told Fox News Digital that decades of inaction to fight Chinese aggression in Taiwan, the South China Sea and around the world have created an atmosphere in which China fears no repercussions for acts of aggression, such as the spy balloon which flew over the United States for days.
AIR FORCE WARNS CHINESE COMPANY’S NORTH DAKOTA MULINA WOULD BE A “SIGNIFICANT” THREAT TO NATIONAL SECURITY
“The United States is far more powerful than China in almost every way, yet the Chinese don’t see it that way,” Chang said. “The Chinese feel they can do whatever they want because we told them they can.”
Chang continued, “The Chinese have engaged in a variety of activities that violate our sovereignty, and some of these activities constitute acts of war, and we have not responded. And not only does it not respond in February 2023, it does not respond throughout the decades. So obviously, the Chinese have this mentality right now. We have created the conditions for the next great war in history.”
CHINA SURVEILLANCE BALL: REP. WALTZ SAYS AMERICA IS ‘UNDER ASSAULT BY CHINESE SPY’
China confirmed on Friday that it owned a surveillance balloon it claims was a civilian research aircraft that was blown off course by prevailing winds, adding it regrets the incident.
Chang told Fox News Digital that there is “no way” the explanation is true, and the Biden administration has faced strong criticism from Republicans, including former President Trump, for not shooting down the aircraft Chang says he would have done if he had been in Biden’s position.
CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The United States has so far decided not to shoot down the balloon, which is flying over a state home to several US military installations and ICBM fields, arguing it could endanger people on the ground.
“The United States government has detected and is monitoring a high-altitude surveillance balloon that is over the continental United States at this time,” said Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon’s press secretary, said in a statement. . “The U.S. government, including NORAD, continues to follow and monitor it closely. The balloon is currently traveling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic and poses no military or physical threat to anyone on the ground. Instances of this type of balloon activity have been observed previously in recent years.
“Once the balloon was detected, the US government took immediate action to protect itself from the collection of sensitive information.”