I don't think you can just take it out before it invades your sovereign territory. I'm pretty sure ythat to down a Chinese asset over international waters could be considered an act of war.
The Montana citizens really had nothing to do with it - DOD says they were aware of it, didn't alert Biden until it was over Montana, at which point he ordered it shot down when it was safe to do so. It can't be shot down over land - it left a 7-mile debris field, and the potential for damage or death was too great - so they jammed the electronics and waited until it floated over the ocean where downing it would be safe (except for the fish, I guess).
China's not doing anything we didn't do when our spy satellites were not so great - just Google "Gary Powers" if you don't remember that incident. What this shows us more than anything is that China's spy satellites are so substandard that they need to rely on other means to collect information. |
