The UK Defense Ministry is bracing for Chinese spy craft following several incidents over the U.S. in recent weeks, Breitbart reported. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the nation is on standby around the clock to take out aerial threats.
Four objects have been shot out of the skies over North America in recent weeks prompting panic from citizens around the world. The first of these was thought to be a spy balloon sent by the Chinese.
This has the rest of the world on high alert, including officials in the United Kingdom who have sent reassuring messages to citizens. On Sunday, British defense minister Ben Wallace proactively promised a security review.
The press also had begun to question whether these spy balloons were breaching airspace over Britain. "The UK and her allies will review what these airspace intrusions mean for our security," Wallace said.
"This development is another sign of how the global threat picture is changing for the worse." However, Sunak was not as forthcoming when asked about the presence of any of these objects already in the airspace, but confirmed that Royal Air Force jets are on constant standby for threats as a matter of course.
"Well, I want people to know that we’ll do whatever it takes to keep the country safe," Sunak told the BBC. "We have something called the Quick Reaction Alert Force, which involves Typhoon planes which are kept on 24-7 readiness to police our airspace, which is incredibly important," he explained.
"I can’t, obviously, comment on detail on national security matters, but we are in constant touch with our allies, and as I said, we’ll do whatever it takes to keep the country safe," Sunak reiterated. When asked for a second time, Sunak again claimed he couldn't comment on specifics.
A spokesperson for the prime minister stated that the threat from China would be a priority in assessing threats to the UK's security, according to the BBC. "China poses a systemic challenge to our values and interests," the spokesman said.
"It is a challenge that grows more acute as it moves to even greater authoritarianism. You will know we are updating the Integrated Review, and it will take into account some of these evolving challenges we are seeing," the spokesman added.
Transportation minister Richard Holden also claimed that it was "possible" these balloons had already breached the airspace. Holden also said that he was "concerned about what's going on" in America and that it was essential to be "robust" in dealings with China.
Tensions are rising between the U.S. and China amid these repeated incidents, though it's unclear how much Beijing is involved, the New York Times reported. The first object taken down, thought to be a spy balloon, was reportedly already being watched stateside.
Officials said they were following its path from late January when it left the Southern Chinese Hainan Island. President Joe Biden had been briefed on the matter, but the balloon traversed the nation for several days before being shot down on Feb. 4.
The debris was recovered and reportedly had "priority sensor and electronics pieces" amid the wreckage. Meanwhile, the communist nation claims the U.S. has been spying on Beijing as well.
The sudden appearance of spy balloons and whatever else being shot down over the U.S. is troubling. Rather than improving foreign relations, Biden seems to be inviting that trouble with his weakness and incompetence -- and now our allies are bracing for trouble because of it.
