The balloon that was shot down by the US authorities is suspected to be a part of a fleet of surveillance balloons used to surveil dozens of nations throughout 5 continents.
(Reuters)
The China balloon shot down by the US was geared up to detect and acquire intelligence alerts as a part of an enormous, military-linked aerial surveillance program that focused greater than 40 international locations, the Biden administration mentioned, citing imagery from American U-2 spy planes.
A fleet of balloons operates below the path of the People’s Liberation Army and is used particularly for spying, outfitted with high-tech tools designed to collect delicate info from targets throughout the globe, the US mentioned.
Similar balloons have sailed over 5 continents, in accordance with the administration.
An announcement from a senior State Department official provided probably the most element to this point linking China’s army to the balloon that was shot down by the US final weekend over the Atlantic Ocean.
The public particulars outlining this system’s scope and capabilities had been meant to refute China’s persistent denials that the balloon was used for spying, together with a declare Thursday that US accusations concerning the balloon quantity to “information warfare”.
On Capitol Hill, the House voted unanimously to condemn China for a “brazen violation” of US sovereignty and efforts to “deceive the international community through false claims about its intelligence collection campaigns”.
Republicans have criticised President Joe Biden for not acting sooner to down the balloon, but both parties’ lawmakers came together on the vote, 419-0.
In Beijing, before the US offered its new information, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning repeated her nation’s insistence that the large unmanned balloon was a civilian meteorological airship that had blown off course and that the US had “overreacted” by capturing it down.
“It is irresponsible,” Mao mentioned. The newest accusations, she mentioned, “could also be a part of the US facet’s info warfare in opposition to China”.
Underscoring the tensions, China’s defense minister refused to take a phone call from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to discuss the balloon issue on Saturday, the Pentagon said.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled a planned weekend trip to Beijing.
READ MORE: “US army shoots down Chinese ‘spy balloon’ over Atlantic”
Source: AA
Source: www.trtworld.com
