The Biden administration has accused China of operating a military-linked aerial spy program through a fleet of balloons, with one of them being shot down by the US last weekend over the Atlantic Ocean.
The administration claims that the balloon was equipped with high-tech equipment designed to collect sensitive information from over 40 countries across the globe, according to a report from The Associated Press.
Jedidiah Royal, the US assistant defense secretary for the Indo-Pacific, told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee that the military has a good idea of what intelligence China was seeking.
The US is reaching out to other countries targeted by the Chinese surveillance program and is looking into potential action in response to the balloon’s incursion into US airspace.
China has repeatedly denied the accusations, with Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning calling them “irresponsible” and “part of the US side’s information warfare against China.”
China’s defense minister declined to take a phone call from US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to discuss the matter.
An analysis of the balloon debris was found to be “inconsistent” with China’s explanation that it was a weather balloon that had gone off course, according to a senior State Department official.
The official added that the US has confidence that the manufacturer of the balloon has a direct relationship with China’s military and is an approved vendor of the army, citing information from an official PLA procurement portal.
The US House of Representatives is expected to pass a resolution blaming China for a “brazen violation of United States sovereignty” and accusing it of trying to “deceive the international community through false claims about its intelligence collection campaigns.”
The resolution is expected to receive support from both Democrats and Republicans.
