China Spy Balloon Update: US Not the Only Target

Secretary of State Antony Blinken disclosed on Wednesday that the US suspects the purported Chinese spy balloon shot down over the weekend was part of a wider surveillance program.

Blinken stated, at a joint news conference with NATO's senior official, that the administration was already sharing intelligence findings with America's allies and Congress.

Chinese Spy Balloon Spies Other Countries

Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said during a Pentagon news conference that China had launched four balloon surveillance missions over "sensitive sites" within US territory in recent years but did not specify where or when the incidents occurred.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg held a press conference in the Benjamin Franklin Room at the State Department on February 8, 2023. This individual said that the United States had briefed India, Japan, Vietnam, and Taiwan, all of which appear to have been monitored by Chinese balloons, ABC News reported.

More than 40 nations are suspected of having been traversed by Chinese spy balloons, and the United States has lately informed India, Japan, Vietnam, and Taiwan, all of which appear to have been surveilled by the aircraft.

A State Department source stated that information gathered from tracking the balloon's flight last week gave agencies a complete understanding of China's surveillance operation and more confidence in their assessment. It still needs to be made clear how much information the administration shared with allies before this.

Blinken emphasized that the United States was continually unearthing new information as balloon wreckage was recovered and analyzed. On Wednesday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg reported that alliance nations in Europe have witnessed "enhanced intelligence actions" conducted by Beijing on the continent, including the deployment of balloons.

A senior official said that the Chinese spy balloons are managed by the Reconnaissance Bureau of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, which is also responsible for the country's enormous satellite network. Blinken was asked if he felt that Chinese President Xi Jinping was aware of the balloon's existence in American airspace before the secretary of state's first official visit to Beijing. The trip was postponed indefinitely as a result of the event.

Pentagon: Chinese Spy Balloon Was Part of Espionage Mission

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, speaking separately to reporters on Air Force One, referred to the balloons as a "fleet" and stated that they had been spotted worldwide for several years. A week ago, a massive white balloon carrying sophisticated technology spanned the United States until President Joe Biden ordered the military to shoot it down in the Atlantic Ocean near the east coast.

Per Telegraph via MSN, China maintains the balloon was doing meteorological research, but the Pentagon classified it as a high-tech espionage mission. The balloon sailed at a height far more significant than most aircraft and passed straight over at least one crucial US military installation.

Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, whose visit to Washington followed trips to Japan and South Korea, stated that the balloon demonstrated the necessity for all alliance members to take precautions. China, which first expressed concern for the air incursion but later blasted the US decision to shoot it down, informed President Biden that it would likewise "firmly defend" its interests.

In the case of the most recent balloon, Beijing intended to "survey important sites, including several of our strategic bases in the continental United States," according to Ryder. The Chinese spy balloon has sparked a deluge of inquiries on the frequency with which similar airships have flown over US territory and the intelligence they have gathered, as per The Hill.

Before last week's sighting, at least four balloons were monitored over Hawaii, Florida, Texas, and Guam, with three incidents occurring during the Trump administration. Ryder stated that in some instances, after a spy balloon had departed US airspace, further intelligence analysis revealed that the previously unidentified airborne item was Chinese.

The balloons, which are not viewed as a very high-tech method of espionage, have benefits over satellites in that they can travel closer to the earth and are less likely to be spotted by radars.

They can also remain above a spot for longer, as was observed last week. Since then, Republican politicians and some Democrats have attacked the Biden administration for failing to shoot down the balloon sooner; however, the Pentagon has emphasized that national security was safeguarded while the item hovered above the country for a week before being shot down.

The duration of the balloon's journey across the country, according to Ryder, allowed the US military to learn more about the Chinese surveillance program and "use that intelligence to improve our capacity to monitor these types of things" and protect the skies.