Senior US military and national security officials confirmed on Wednesday that the Chinese spy balloon shot down off the coast of South Carolina over the weekend was linked to a major surveillance program run by the Chinese military.
The program was largely exhausted from China’s Hainan Island province off its southeast coast in the South China Sea by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). It is known to operate on regional neighbors such as Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines and India, the Washington Post first reported.
But these surveillance balloons, used to gather military intelligence from nations of strategic interest to Beijing, have already surfaced over the United States as well.
A large balloon drifts over the Atlantic Ocean just off the coast of South Carolina with a fighter jet and its contrail seen below it on Saturday. (Chad Fish via AP)
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Another Chinese spy balloon was discovered four months ago after crashing in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii, Fox News confirmed earlier this week. Three other Chinese surveillance balloons were found to have flown over Texas, Florida and Guam during the Trump administration.
Department of Defense Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder told reporters Wednesday that the United States was monitoring China’s surveillance practices before the last balloon arrived in the United States last week.
“We are now learning more about the extent of this Chinese balloon surveillance program, which US intelligence and the Pentagon have been observing for several years,” he said. “Our awareness and understanding of this capability has increased.”
It is not clear how long Beijing has been running the spy program which relies on outdated balloon technology coupled with modern surveillance techniques. Spy balloons have been spotted on five continents since 2018.
“When you look at the scale of this programme, which operates on at least five continents in regions such as Latin America, South America, Southeast Asia, East Asia and Europe, it once again demonstrates why, for the Department of Defense, China remains the pace challenge and something we will continue to focus on,” added Ryder.
Suspected Chinese spy balloon drifts towards the ocean after being shot down off the coast of Surfside Beach, SC on Saturday. (REUTERS/Randall Hill)
Most of the PLA’s surveillance program is conducted through the use of satellites, but Beijing has also apparently spotted an opportunity for more intelligence gathering.
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The balloons travel through the upper atmosphere, hovering between 60,000 and 80,000 feet above the Earth, above where commercial jets travel.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Wednesday told reporters ‘these balloons are part of a PRC [People’s Republic of China] balloon fleet developed to conduct surveillance operations” and claimed to have “violated the sovereignty” of several nations.
China tried to write off the surveillance balloon that crisscrossed the United States for seven days before it was shot down like a weather balloon caught off course.
But US defense officials have rejected these claims.
US forces carry debris from the Chinese surveillance balloon onto a boat off the coast of South Carolina. (US Fleet Forces)
National Security Council strategic communications coordinator John Kirby said on Monday that the United States “has taken steps to mitigate any collection capability the balloon would have over our sensitive military sites.”
He also told reporters that the US decision not to shoot down the balloon until it was safely over the Atlantic “has provided us with a tremendous opportunity to gain a better understanding to study the capabilities of this balloon.”
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Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman on Monday briefed about 150 diplomats from 40 embassies around the world about China’s spy program.
The United States has also begun sharing specific details about its findings with allies such as Japan, whose military has been directly targeted by Beijing’s efforts.
