Chinese Weather Balloons, and Should You Worry About Them?

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kuririn said:
Not according to this poll:
https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2021/12/30/2003770419
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It's always good to learn more.
Further elaboration from your source:

Most Taiwanese, or 72.5 percent, are willing to fight for the nation in the event that China uses force to achieve unification, a poll released yesterday by the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy found.

However, asked whether they would fight against China if it attacked after Taiwan declared independence, the percentage of respondents who said they would fight fell to 62.7 percent, while 26.7 percent said they would not fight and 10.6 percent had no response, foundation president Huang Yu-lin (黃玉霖) told a news conference in Taipei hosted by the government-affiliated foundation.

The results suggest that the proportion of Taiwanese opposing unification is larger than those advocating Taiwanese independence, said Eric Yu (俞振華), a research fellow at National Chengchi University’s (NCCU) Election Study Center.

A breakdown of the responses by age group showed that young people are more willing to defend the nation against a Chinese invasion, he said.

Showed the statement: “There might be some problems with democracy, but it remains the best system available,” 75.3 percent of respondents agreed, while 14.1 percent disagreed.

The results showed that 53.2 percent of respondents are satisfied with Taiwan’s democratic practices, while 40.6 percent are dissatisfied, with respondents in their 20s being the most satisfied, and those aged 60 or older the most dissatisfied.

More than half of the respondents, or 55.3 percent, are optimistic about the future of Taiwan’s democratic politics, while 36.5 percent are pessimistic, the poll showed.
 
Dotini said:
It's always good to learn more.
Further elaboration from your source:

Most Taiwanese, or 72.5 percent, are willing to fight for the nation in the event that China uses force to achieve unification, a poll released yesterday by the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy found.

However, asked whether they would fight against China if it attacked after Taiwan declared independence, the percentage of respondents who said they would fight fell to 62.7 percent, while 26.7 percent said they would not fight and 10.6 percent had no response, foundation president Huang Yu-lin (黃玉霖) told a news conference in Taipei hosted by the government-affiliated foundation.

The results suggest that the proportion of Taiwanese opposing unification is larger than those advocating Taiwanese independence, said Eric Yu (俞振華), a research fellow at National Chengchi University’s (NCCU) Election Study Center.

A breakdown of the responses by age group showed that young people are more willing to defend the nation against a Chinese invasion, he said.

Showed the statement: “There might be some problems with democracy, but it remains the best system available,” 75.3 percent of respondents agreed, while 14.1 percent disagreed.

The results showed that 53.2 percent of respondents are satisfied with Taiwan’s democratic practices, while 40.6 percent are dissatisfied, with respondents in their 20s being the most satisfied, and those aged 60 or older the most dissatisfied.

More than half of the respondents, or 55.3 percent, are optimistic about the future of Taiwan’s democratic politics, while 36.5 percent are pessimistic, the poll showed.
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Which just proves that nowhere near 40% would "join China without firing a shot".
 
kuririn said:
Which just proves that nowhere near 40% would "join China without firing a shot".
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Yes, my recollections, like the rest of me, dwells in past. Today, only 11.8% hope for future reunification, while 48.9% want independence.

On the issue of independence itself, Taiwanese polls have shown a creep toward pro-independence sentiment. As of September 2023, nearly half of Taiwanese voters said they preferred independence (48.9%) for the island, while 26.9% sought a continuation of the status quo. A shrinking minority – now just 11.8% – said they hoped for future reunification.

https://theconversation.com/taiwane...ts-to-force-the-issue-of-reunification-217955
 
Dotini said:
Yes, my recollections, like the rest of me, dwells in past. Today, only 11.8% hope for future reunification, while 48.9% want independence.

On the issue of independence itself, Taiwanese polls have shown a creep toward pro-independence sentiment. As of September 2023, nearly half of Taiwanese voters said they preferred independence (48.9%) for the island, while 26.9% sought a continuation of the status quo. A shrinking minority – now just 11.8% – said they hoped for future reunification.

https://theconversation.com/taiwane...ts-to-force-the-issue-of-reunification-217955
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There is no reunification. The CCP never controlled Taiwan. In fact, the old China was wiped out by Mao after his cultural revolution. Taiwan has it's own culture after the Republic of China fled China to Formosa.

Taiwanese know that if China takes over Taiwan, their culture will be wiped out and consumed by the CCP. Thanks to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the CHIPS and Science Act, much of the technology will be manufactured in the US. China may try to carpet bomb Taiwan, but they're not getting the chips.

https://www.taiwan.gov.tw/content_3.php#
 
Ronz Rocketz said:
There is no reunification. The CCP never controlled Taiwan. In fact, the old China was wiped out by Mao after his cultural revolution. Taiwan has it's own culture after the Republic of China fled China to Formosa.

Taiwanese know that if China takes over Taiwan, their culture will be wiped out and consumed by the CCP. Thanks to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the CHIPS and Science Act, much of the technology will be manufactured in the US. China may try to carpet bomb Taiwan, but they're not getting the chips.

https://www.taiwan.gov.tw/content_3.php#
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CHIPS, etc are hardly a magic wand that just makes things happen. It'll take a decade or more for anyone else to get up to speed, never mind caught up in that decade.....that is, if anyone seriously keeps the press on to actually build and not fleece the American taxpayer.
 
Banzai88 said:
CHIPS, etc are hardly a magic wand that just makes things happen. It'll take a decade or more for anyone else to get up to speed, never mind caught up in that decade.....that is, if anyone seriously keeps the press on to actually build and not fleece the American taxpayer.
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Agree. It will take a decade to get up to speed, but the process has begun and there'll be an alternative to Taiwan in case it hits the fan.

Fear of fleecing the American taxpayer has kept chip manufacturing in Asia. We're now approaching a pseudo war economy but with microprocessors instead of tanks. Avoiding another chip shortage is a national security issue.

https://www.jpmorgan.com/insights/global-research/supply-chain/chip-shortage
 
Banzai88 said:
Always has been. Unconscionable that it was allowed to get to this point in the first place.

Hopefully the course stays true and at speed to a successful realization of self sufficiency.
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A point of frustration. When you look at the politicians and thought leaders who say things like this, they're almost always the same ones that say that government shouldn't get involved in industrial decisions or pick winners or losers. They're all very happy to see chips outsourced to generate a few dollars of extra profit per PC produced, then they get all het up about how all of that production got outsourced.
 
The real question at the end of the day gentlemen.... how much election interference will China and Russia have on the elections?
And if so to which party is politically tied to the most? Im betting whom ever wins will cry wolf on some type of interference... 🤷‍♂️
 
NTP2 said:
I’ve never quite understood, why a balloon? A spy satellite can’t be stopped and you get a lot more pictures.
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A balloon is closer than a satellite. If you want to intercept low-power radio emissions, you want to be closer to the source. My understanding was that the balloon was primarily looking for radio traffic rather than pictures.
 
It's been months, I was looking for an announcement about the results of the FBI analysis of the debris recovered.
It appears that both governments have agreed to let this matter quietly die.
No "Kruschev " moment with fists pounding on the table at the UN when they shot down one of our U2s.
Shucks.
NTP2 said:
I’ve never quite understood, why a balloon? A spy satellite can’t be stopped and you get a lot more pictures.
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Probably because we know about their spy satellites.
We didn't know about their balloons.
And didn't put two and two together for a couple of years.
 
kuririn said:
Probably because we know about their spy satellites.
We didn't know about their balloons.
And didn't put two and two together for a couple of years.
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I haven't gone back through the 35 pages of this thread, but my understanding was that the USAF knew about the balloons when they went over. The first few didn't really make the media because they weren't seen by the general public. Once the mainstream media got the story, it became a big deal.
 
boatgeek said:
I haven't gone back through the 35 pages of this thread, but my understanding was that the USAF knew about the balloons when they went over. The first few didn't really make the media because they weren't seen by the general public. Once the mainstream media got the story, it became a big deal.
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And folks in signal intelligence have known about them from 0800 Day 1.
 
boatgeek said:
I haven't gone back through the 35 pages of this thread, but my understanding was that the USAF knew about the balloons when they went over. The first few didn't really make the media because they weren't seen by the general public. Once the mainstream media got the story, it became a big deal.
Click to expand...
Banzai88 said:
And folks in signal intelligence have known about them from 0800 Day 1.
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There were several incidents previous to the one that garnered media attention.
Not just in the US, but Asia and the Middle East.
"Unidentified mystery balloon" at the time, now confirmed as Chinese spy balloons.
https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2022/...ting-above-kauai-military-responds-with-jets/
 

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