ASPI Senior Defence Analyst Malcolm Davis says Australia must recognise that the balloon spotted over the United States was gathering signals and electronic intelligence.
“If the Chinese floated one of these balloons across Pine Gap, for example, which will be a logical target for them,” he told Sky News Australia.
“Then they will do the same thing, gather signals and then electronic intelligence.
“So at a certain point, the Australian government would need to decide as the US government did, just shoot it down.”
Source: Sky News
