American officials insist that the balloon represents a serious threat. They say China has recently developed a fleet of them to spy
Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskThe equipment they find could bolster American officials’ assertions that the balloon was part of a fleet of similar craft gathering intelligence worldwide. They say they have already got plenty of evidence from tracking it across America. Yet China is doubling down on its claim that the balloon was monitoring weather and blown off course.
But China’s rhetoric later hardened. Its foreign ministry expressed “strong dissatisfaction”, accusing America of over-reacting and violating international practice. It pledged to safeguard the interests of “relevant Chinese companies” and said it reserved the right to respond. Asked if China had demanded the return of the debris, a spokeswoman said: “The airship does not belong to the. It belongs to China.
But , often for the People’s Liberation Army . Although less sophisticated than satellites, the balloons can gather some communication and other data only accessible at lower altitudes, and can often linger for long periods using a small solar-powered engine. They are also far cheaper. Some of the previous sightings were already public, including one over Japan in June 2020, another over India in January 2022 and a swarm over Taiwan last February that its armed forces linked to theRocket Force. That month, America scrambled fighters to intercept an unmanned balloon off Kauai, a Hawaiian island with a missile-testing range .
This time, however, American forces spotted the Chinese balloon as it approached Alaska. That allowed them to ensure that no sensitive activities or communications were exposed nearby, and to monitor it closely and try to assess its ability to gather and transmit data. One finding that American officials say undermines China’s claims is that the balloon appears to have manoeuvred itself over military sites, including a base in Montana with intercontinental ballistic missiles.
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