Top U.S. diplomatic and military officials on Wednesday said that the discovery of a Chinese spy balloon over U.S. airspace last week was just one example of an aerial spying program that has traversed five continents around the world in recent years.
The Biden administration accused China of violating international law and U.S. sovereignty by flying the balloon above the country last week. A U.S. missile ultimately shot the plane down off the coast of Myrtle Beach this weekend.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he discussed the issue with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg during their meeting in Washington Wednesday.
“We also discussed the systemic and tactical challenges that China presents to the alliance and the broader international system,” he said, adding that the U.S. was analyzing the parts of the balloon collected at sea after its plummet to gather more information about the apparatus and what data it might have collected.
The New York Times reported on Wednesday that the balloons are used worldwide to view and assess countries’ military capabilities.
At the State Department, Stoltenberg added that the balloon “confirms a pattern of Chinese behavior.”
“China over the last years has invested heavily in new military capabilities, including different types of surveillance and intelligence platforms,” he said.
“I think it also highlights that security is not regional – security is global. What happens in Asia matters for Europe and what happens in Europe matters for Asia and and also of course for North America.”
Stoltenberg traveled to South Korea and Japan last week in an effort to solidify NATO ties with Asia and address challenges from China.
Chinese officials have maintained that the balloon accidentally drifted into U.S. airspace and was simply used for weather monitoring.
Recovery of the most recent balloon is ongoing, and underwater rescue teams continued Wednesday using unmanned underwater vehicles.
The U.S. will release new information about the device in the coming days “as we continue to work to salvage the balloon,” Blinken said.
Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder on Wednesday told reporters the balloon identified last week – as well as four previous balloons that went over U.S. territory – are “part of a larger Chinese surveillance balloon program […] that’s been operated for several years.”
“What we do know is that in some cases, whereas some of these balloons previously had not been identified, subsequent intelligence analysis did enable us to indicate that these were Chinese balloons in terms of where they’re coming from,” Ryder said.
The Washington Post on Tuesday first reported the balloon was part of a larger operation backed by China’s People’s Liberation Army to target not only the United States, but other countries as well.
Ryder said balloons have operated over regions including Latin America, Southeast Asia, East Asia and Europe.
He added that the latest discovery could actually aid the U.S. in identifying Chinese espionage.
“This last week provided the United States with a unique opportunity to learn a lot more about the Chinese surveillance balloon program, all information that will help us to continue to strengthen our ability to track these kinds of objects,” Ryder noted.
While Ryder would not say what U.S. locations or data the previous balloons tracked, he noted they were “looking to surveil strategic sites to include some of our strategic bases in the continental United States.”
