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Beijing DRAGGED! US intelligence confirms Chinese spy balloon WAS part of a global surveillance operation to gather information on military sites around the world
- Biden officials reportedly detected suspected Chinese surveillance balloons in 12 different countries on five continents prior to the recent incident.
- The slow trajectory of the last balloon over the US gave officials a unique time to study it.
- The three detected under Trump were called ‘unidentified aerial phenomena’
China’s alleged ‘spy balloon’ that unnerved millions of Americans across the country last week appears to be part of a broader global surveillance plan by the authoritarian government in Beijing, according to a new report asserted Wednesday.
Citing three US intelligence sources, the New York Times reports that last week’s diplomatic incident is part of a global Chinese espionage campaign.
The likely goal is reportedly to gather more information about US military bases, as well as other countries’ military capabilities.
Such surveillance devices have reportedly been detected in at least 12 different countries on five continents.
Air Force jets shot down the balloon that sparked public outro over Beijing’s brazen spy tactics on Saturday off the coast of South Carolina.
China’s alleged ‘spy balloon’ that unnerved millions of Americans across the country last week appears to be part of a larger global surveillance scheme by the authoritarian government in Beijing, according to a new report asserted Wednesday.
The suspected Chinese spy balloon drifts into the ocean after being shot down off the coast of Surfside Beach, South Carolina, USA, on February 4, 2023.
It was first detected crossing US territory on January 28, briefly crossed Canada, and then crossed several states in the continental US before being shot down on February 4.
President Joe Biden gave the order to bring it down on Wednesday of last week, but defense officials warned that it would be safer to do so when the falling debris no longer posed a risk to Americans on the ground.
Biden’s Republican critics have criticized this as a weak response, alleging that he allowed the Chinese government to obtain information on important national security matters on days when he was allowed to pass through the country untouched, at a low enough altitude. enough to be seen with the naked eye. .
But according to the report, his days cruising the United States provided analysts with valuable insight into China’s surveillance capabilities.
US officials have found that the benefits of using such satellite-based devices to gather information include the unpredictability of their paths compared to satellites in a fixed orbit, as well as the ability to produce clearer images of what it is tracking on the ground.
The Pentagon said the balloon shot down on Saturday was the second such device detected under the Biden administration.
Three of those balloons passed through the country under Donald Trump, according to Biden Defense officials, something people in the previous administration have been skeptical about.
‘What is the basis of this new detection?’ Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton told CNN earlier this week.
US intelligence officials reportedly discovered that China was using such devices to observe the military capabilities of the US and other governments.
But according to the Times report, the incidents had been classified as “unidentified aerial phenomena” at the time.
Biden briefly alluded to the most recent balloon during his State of the Union address Tuesday night.
“Today, we are in the strongest position in decades to compete with China or anyone else in the world,” the president boasted.
I am committed to working with China where it can advance American interests and benefit the world.
But make no mistake: as we made clear last week, if China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country. And we did.