More than 40 countries targeted by China’s balloon espionage
The appearance of a massive Chinese observation balloon over US territory had further chilled the already chilly relations between the two countries.
(Photo: IMAGO/ZUMA Wire)
Washington According to US media reports, China has targeted more than 40 countries on five continents with a fleet of spy balloons. This was reported by several US media, including the New York Times and the Washington Post, on Thursday, citing a senior State Department official in Washington.
The Chinese balloon shot down off the US coast had “multiple antennas” in an arrangement that likely enabled China to “collect and locate communications,” it said.
The USA used reconnaissance aircraft to take high-resolution images to determine the balloon’s capabilities while it was still in American airspace. The balloon’s equipment was “clearly used for intelligence monitoring” and does not match the equipment of weather balloons.
The appearance of a massive Chinese observation balloon over US territory had further chilled the already chilly relations between the two countries. The US military shot down the balloon over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday.
The US government accuses China of wanting to spy on military installations. Beijing, on the other hand, spoke of a civil research balloon primarily for meteorological purposes. This was off course, the launch an “overreaction”.
In view of the dispute, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled a trip to Beijing at short notice. Blinken had already said on Wednesday that the downed Chinese balloon was part of an extensive surveillance program.
Biden: China-US ties no further damage
“The United States was not the only target of this broad program that violated the sovereignty of countries on five continents.” The United States had exchanged information with dozens of countries.
