Chinese spy balloon – live: Surveillance craft used ‘multiple antennas’ for collecting communications

Declassified reporting from the US Department of State reveals that a high-altitude Chinese surveillance balloon was equipped with “multiple antennas” that likely made the aircraft “capable of collecting and geolocating communications”.

The US believes the vessel was part of a Chinese military fleet that has performed similar operations in 40 countries across five continents.

Defense officials briefed a Senate panel on Thursday, providing a timeline of the military’s actions and its abilities to block the balloon’s intelligence collection before a F-22 Raptor jet shot it down above the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the US and other world leaders are studying the scale and scope of China’s surveillance program and its latest balloon, which Mr Blinken said “violated international law and US sovereignty” with “an irresponsible act”.

Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said that the balloon incident “confirms a pattern of Chinese behaviour” using “different types of intelligence and surveillance platforms” around the world.

Key Points

• Chinese spy balloon had communication and intelligence tools, officials reveal

• China accuses Pentagon of ‘information warfare'

• Nato secretary-general: Spy ballon confirms Beijing’s ‘pattern’ of global surveillance

• Chinese authorities say Pentagon comments amount to ‘information warfare’ against China

• At least five balloons discovered above US in recent years, according to officials

Everything we know about Trump-era Chinese surveillance balloons

10:45 , Alex Woodward

At least three similar balloons were above the US at some points during the Trump administration, according to the White House and military officials.

Those previous flights were “brief” and “nothing like we saw last week,” according to White House national security council spokesperson John Kirby.

Here’s everything we know:

What we know about Chinese spy balloons that flew over US during Trump administration

Biden says Chinese spy balloon was ‘not a major breach’

10:15 , Rachel Sharp

President Joe Biden has now said that the Chinese spy balloon – which flew over US airspace for eight days – was “not a major breach”.

On Thursday, the president told Noticias Telemundo that he had no regrets about not shooting the balloon down sooner, after he has come under fire from Republicans for the delay.

Mr Biden had been advised by the US military to wait to shoot down the balloon once it was over the ocean due to concerns of falling debris over Montana.

“It’s not a major breach,” he said.

“I mean, look, it’s totally … it’s a violation of international law. It’s our airspace. And once it comes into our space, we can do what we want with it.”

He added: “This thing was gigantic. What happened if it came down and hit a school in a rural area? What happened if it came down? So I told them as soon as they could shoot it down, shoot it down.

“They made a wise decision. They shot it down over water, they’re recovering most of the parts, and they’re good.”

Crucial evidence from Chinese spy balloon is lost in Atlantic Ocean

09:47 , Rachel Sharp

Crucial evidence from the Chinese spy balloon shot down by the US military last week has been lost in the Atlantic Ocean.

A senior FBI official told reporters on Thursday that the recovery of the surveillance balloon was complicated by the fact that key parts – including a payload thought to contain most of the electronics – remains underwater off the coast of the US.

“It’s very early for us to assess what the intent was and how the device was operating,” the official said, according to NBC News.

“We have literally not seen the payload, which is where we would expect to see the lion’s share of the electronics.”

The official said that the debris so far recovered was “extremely limited” but so far there is no sign of “any energetic or offensive material”.

“It’s very early for us in this process and the evidence that has been recovered and brought to the FBI is extremely limited, this is evidence that was only present on the surface,” they said.

“So only a very few items. We can probably characterise that into three types of items, one is the balloon or the canopy itself, some wiring, and then some a very small amount of electronics.”

Debris recovered so far has been taken to the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia, for analysis.

Chinese spy balloon had communication and intelligence tools, officials reveal

09:00 , Alex Woodward

During a briefing on Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the Pentagon’s comments alleging China’s “larger” surveillance arsenal amount to “information warfare against China,” while Chinese authorities continue to insist that the balloon was a civilian weather research craft that drifted off course.

But officials with the US State Department on Thursday reported that equipment from the aircraft “was clearly for intelligence surveillance and inconsistent with the equipment onboard weather balloons”.

The balloon was equipped with antennas that were “likely capable of collecting and geo-locating communications,” while solar panels on board were large enough to power “multiple active intelligence collection sensors,” according to the agency.

Chinese spy balloon had communication and intelligence tools, officials reveal

Mitt Romney breaks from GOP to defend Biden response to Chinese spy balloon

08:00 , Alex Woodward

Republican Senator Mitt Romney has defended Joe Biden’s response to the Chinese surveillance balloon incident, breaking from a party eager to admonish the administration with allegations that the president is ill-equipped to stand up against China.

Following a series of briefings from military officials, including a classified hearing on China’s surveillance operations, the senator from Utah said he “came away more confident” in the Biden administration’s response.

“I believe that the administration, the president, our military and intelligence agencies, acted skillfully and with care. At the same time, their capabilities are extraordinarily impressive,” he told CNN’s Manu Raju on 9 February.

Mitt Romney breaks from GOP to defend Biden response to Chinese spy balloon

Watch: Defense officials explain why US military did not shoot balloon over land

07:00 , Alex Woodward

Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers have scrutinised the intrusion of Chinese espionage operations in the US as military officials reveal more and more about the scale and scope of China’s surveillence programme in the wake of the latest spy balloon incident.

But much of the scrutiny, particularly among Republican lawmakers, has criticised the Biden administration and military officials for not shooting down the balloon sooner.

Lt Gen Douglas Sims II, the director for operations at the Joint Staff, and Melissa Dalton, the assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and hemispheric affairs, explained why they didn’t in their testimony to a Senate panel on Thursday:

Spy balloon videos dominated TikTok. Why didn’t China stop them?

06:00 , Alex Woodward

Calls from lawmakers in Washington DC for an outright ban on TikTok have intensified in recent months due to concerns its Chinese owners Bytedance could be coerced by the country’s authoritarian government to surveil or manipulate public opinion in the US.

The argument is that TikTok can put its thumb on the scale by influencing the algorithm, and share personal data with its the Chinese government, which keeps citizens in line through its surveillance state.

More than 30 states have already banned the app from government-owned devices in recent months.

But TikTok appeared to be directing users towards the #chinesespyballoon hashtag even while the Chinese Communist Party was still insisting it was an errant weather balloon.

The Independent’s Bevan Hurley reports on how the world watched the balloon incident from the popular app:

Spy balloon videos dominated TikTok. Why didn’t China stop them?

Marjorie Taylor Greene’s State of the Union outfit was supposed to look like the balloon, allegedly

05:00 , Alex Woodward

Far-right Republican US Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene got a lot of attention for wearing a white fur-trimmed coat during Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday, where she repeatedly heckled him from inside the House chambers and loudly booed.

She also previewed her appearance at the event by filming a video with a white balloon and accusing the Biden administration of “allowing” China to enter US airspace.

A spokesperson for her office said that she “wore her outfit to highlight something President Biden refused to address in his speech, the white Chinese spy balloon”.

The president did mention the ballon, though not explicitly: “As we made clear last week, if China’s threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country. And we did.”

Republicans, including Ms Greene, have criticised the Biden administration for not acting faster to shoot down the balloon. The president said he had hoped to shoot the balloon down sooner, but military officials advised him to wait until the balloon was over water to avoid the debris causing damage to ground structures and civilians.

The congresswoman’s office said that “Biden refused to mention it, just like he refused to stop the intelligence gathering operation that traversed the United States and surveilled some of our most important military facilities in the country”.

Marjorie Taylor Greene’s outfit cost $500 was supposed to look like the China balloon

House of Representatives votes unanimously to support resolution condemning the balloon

03:00 , Alex Woodward

A resolution from Republican US Rep Michael McCaul calls the ballon incident “a brazen violation” of US sovereignty, echoing similar language used by President Joe Biden and White House officials.

Earlier this week, Republicans considered introducing a measure that would have condemned the president’s response, but the resolution that lawmakers unanimously supported in a vote of 419-0 on Thursday calls on the administration to provide the House with a “comprehensive briefing on this incident.”

The nonbinding resolution calls for a “complete account” of previous balloon intrusions, an assessment of the data the balloon was potentially able to collect and transmit, and a timeline of events, including the timing of the president’s initial decision to shoot it down and the military’s advisement to do so.

US House votes to condemn China over balloon surveillance

ICYMI: Military was able to block balloon’s intelligence collection, defense official tells Senate committee

02:00 , Alex Woodward

Melissa Dalton, the assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and hemispheric affairs, provided a Senate subcommittee with a timeline of the US military’s response and communications with the White House over the course of several days following the discovery of a Chinese surveillance balloon entering the nation’s airspace.

She said once it was observed, the military was able to protect against intelligence collection, which was “relatively straight-forward since we knew where the balloon was”.

The White House initially asked for options to shoot down the balloon, which the military advised against until it was over water and its debris field did not pose a threat to people below. Officials consulted with Nasa to get an idea of the size of its potential debris field. The balloon was 200-feet tall “with a jetliner-sized payload,” Ms Dalton said.

ICYMI: Chinese spy balloon had communication and intelligence tools, officials reveal

01:00 , Alex Woodward

In recent days, press reports and military officials have unveiled more details about the scale and scope of China’s surveillance operations, which include at least four other balloon sightings above the US in recent years, including three times during former president Donald Trump’s administration.

Chinese authorities, meanwhile, have accused the Pentagon of waging “information warfare” as they continue to insist that the balloon was a civilian weather research vessel that drifted off course.

But State Department officials report that equipment from the aircraft “was clearly for intelligence surveillance and inconsistent with the equipment onboard weather balloons”.

The balloon was equipped with antennas that were “likely capable of collecting and geo-locating communications,” while solar panels on board were large enough to power “multiple active intelligence collection sensors,” according to the agency.

Chinese spy balloon had communication and intelligence tools, officials reveal

Furious Lisa Murkowski addresses spy balloon in Senate hearing: ‘As an Alaskan, I am so angry'

00:00 , Alex Woodward

Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, where the surveillance balloon first entered the US, was furious in a Senate committee hearing on Thursday morning as defense officials outlined the military response to the balloon, including tracking, signal blocking and ultimately shooting down the aircraft after it crossed to the Atlantic Ocean

“As an Alaskan, I am so angry,” she said. “I want to use other words. But I’m not going to. The fact of the matter is, Alaska is the first line of defense for America... It’s like this administration doesn’t think that Alaska is any part of the rest of the country.”

Melissa Dalton, the assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and hemispheric affairs, told the panel that a “key part of the calculus for this operation was the ability to salvage, understand and exploit the capabilities of the balloon.”

She said that shooting it down over Alaska could have brought it down into ice cover or waters that are thousands of feet deep in temperatures that would have made recovery and salvage “very dangerous.”

What we know about Chinese spy balloons that flew over US during Trump administration

Thursday 9 February 2023 23:00 , Alex Woodward

President Joe Biden’s administration and senior military officials have revealed that similar crafts had flown above the US in previous years, including at least three times during former president Donald Trump’s administration, as part of what national security officials have described as a years-long Chinese global surveillance programme.

Here’s everything we know so far:

What we know about Chinese spy balloons that flew over US during Trump administration

Full story: Mitt Romney breaks from GOP to defend Biden response to Chinese spy balloon

Thursday 9 February 2023 22:00 , Alex Woodward

Republican Senator Mitt Romney has defended Joe Biden’s response to the Chinese surveillance balloon incident, breaking from a party eager to admonish the administration with allegations that the president is ill-equipped to stand up against China.

“I believe that the administration, the president, our military and intelligence agencies, acted skillfully and with care. At the same time, their capabilities are extraordinarily impressive,” he told CNN’s Manu Raju on 9 February.

Congressional Republicans have been eager to cast the president as a weak and malleable foil to China’s aggression, seizing on the balloon’s appearance as evidence of Mr Biden’s failures.

Mitt Romney breaks from GOP to defend Biden response to Chinese spy balloon

State Department: ‘Profoundly irresponsible’ for China to send spy balloon to US

Thursday 9 February 2023 21:30 , Alex Woodward

US State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters on Thursday that China was “profoundly irresponsible” for “violating our sovereignty,” echoing administration officials who have condemned Chinese authorities for sending a surveillance balloon into American airspace.

“This is not something that only the American people have been able to see in recent days. China’s irresponsible actions were visible to us but also to the world, and China, as a result, has a lot to answer for,” he said.

Mr Price pointed to newly disclosed reports that China’s surveillance operations have spanned 40 countries across five continents.

“They are presumably getting questions from all over the world,” he said.

China has denied that the balloon belongs to their military, instead claiming that it was a civilian weather balloon that drifted off course, a denial that Mr Price said is “not surprising”.

“They’re in a very difficult spot, but they’re in a difficult spot because they placed themselves there,” he said.

New images show FBI agents examining shot-down balloon

Thursday 9 February 2023 20:45 , Alex Woodward

Images released by the FBI show agents with an evidence response team examining the remains of a Chinese surveillance balloon downed by the US military on Saturday.

Deputy secretary of state says spy balloon reflects China’s attempts to ’reshape international order’

Thursday 9 February 2023 20:00 , Alex Woodward

Deputy secretary of state Wendy Sherman told lawmakers on Thursday that China’s surveillance balloon reflects how the nation is America’s “only competitor with the intent and means to reshape the international order”.

“Last week the American people saw the latest example of that reality, after the US government detected, closely tracked, and shot down the PRC’s high-altitude surveillance balloon that had entered our territorial airspace in clear violation of our sovereignty and international law,” she told the Senate Foreign Relations committee.

The US response “reaffirmed core priorities,” she said, echoing President Joe Biden’s remarks in his State of the Union, in which he warned that if “China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country.”

“We will always act decisively to protect the American people” and “never hestitate”, Ms Sherman added.

She told the panel that China’s “irresponsible act put on full display” how the nation has grown “more repressive at home and more aggressive abroad.”

Democratic senator: Biden administration ‘made the right decision’ while GOP exploited incident to ‘beat up the president’

Thursday 9 February 2023 19:30 , Alex Woodward

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, who chairs a subcommittee on Homeland Security, said what he learned from military officials on Thursday in congressional briefings “confirms that the administration made the right decision” with its response to the surveillance balloon.

“There was a non-zero chance this balloon, had it been downed over the United States, [would have] been very costly to American lives,” he told reporters.

Federal investigations into what was recovered from the down balloon will “pay dividends” for US intelligence, he said.

The US “made clear to the Chinese we’re going to take these balloons down ... but we also did it in a way that preserved American lives and collected some valuable intelligence,” the senator said.

The balloon itself posed only a “low-level threat” but was a “compelling news story, an easy way for Republicans to beat up the president, but the president handled this very well,” he said.

“I think this story probably is a bit overhyped, with respect to the threat these balloons pose compared to the other activities China undertakes,” he added. “My hope is in the aftermath of this story we can talk about the real threats.”

He pointed to Chinese propaganda campaigns and fentanyl manufacturing and imports.

Montana senator claims ‘greatest risk’ of shooting ballon over land would be hitting ‘cow, prairie dog or antelope’

Thursday 9 February 2023 19:00 , Alex Woodward

Republican Senator Steve Daines of Montana tweeted a list of questions about the surveillance balloon that he wanted to ask military officials before today’s briefing.

After the briefing, Senator Daines rejected arguments from those officials who explained why they advised against shooting the balloon while it was still over the US.

“They could’ve taken that balloon down, that spy balloon, and the greatest risk would’ve been hitting a cow, a prairie dog or an antelope,” he said.

“I think this was, as much as anything, a test of this administration and their response to an invasion of our sovereign airspace,” he said. “And the Biden administration failed by being indecisive.”

He said the Biden administration treated the balloon as if it was a “Chinese spy balloon concert tour”.

The White House directed the military to review options for shooting down the balloon when it was first briefed.

“I told the Defense Department I wanted to shoot it down as soon as it was appropriate,” Mr Biden told reporters this week.

Military officials, however, advised against shooting the balloon down while it was over land because of the threats posed from falling debris raining down several thousand feet in the sky.

Defense officials also told the Senate panel on Thursday that shooting the balloon at first sight near Alaska also risked losing salvageable debris – and valuable intelligence – in areas where recovery operations would be impossible.

Senate Republicans send letter to military officials demanding ‘answers'

Thursday 9 February 2023 18:30 , Alex Woodward

After White House and military officials briefed reporters and members of Congress about the events leading up to the surveillance balloon being shot down, two Senate Republicans sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines demanding “answers” that, according to their letter, have either already been answered or will be the subject of closed-door briefings in Congress.

In his remarks to a Senate committee addressing the balloon incident, Senator Jon Tester said he has been “discouraged by some of the responses from elected officials in the House and Senate who decided this was a great opportunity to score some cheap political points and get attention on social media.”

The letter from Senators Roger Wicker and Marco Rubio follows a wave of criticism from GOP officials who either criticised the Biden administration for not shooting down the balloon when it first appeared above Montana late last week, or admonished the president for not shooting it down sooner, after the military shot it down off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has defended the administration’s response and chastised Republican critics for “breathless, political and premature” statements.

Watch: Defense officials explain why military did not shoot balloon over land

Thursday 9 February 2023 18:00 , Alex Woodward

Though rare for Congress to agree on just about anything, both Democratic and Republican lawmakers have scrutinised the intrusion of Chinese espionage operations in the US as military officials reveal more and more about the scale and scope of China’s surveillence programme in the wake of the latest spy balloon incident.

But much of the scrutiny, particularly among Republican lawmakers, has criticised the Biden administration and military officials for not shooting down the balloon sooner.

Lt Gen Douglas Sims II, the director for operations at the Joint Staff, and Melissa Dalton, the assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and hemispheric affairs, explained why they didn’t in their testimony to a Senate panel on Thursday.

Full story: US House votes to condemn China over balloon surveillance

Thursday 9 February 2023 17:30 , Alex Woodward

The House voted unanimously Thursday to condemn China's balloon surveillance program as a “brazen violation” of US sovereignty, a rare and swift bipartisan rebuke of Beijing as questions mount about the craft the US says was part of a vast aerial spy program.

In a Congress riven by partisan splits, the shared anxiety over China's stealthy balloon surveillance program and the reach of the Beijing's global military and economic force provided an unusual opening for bipartisan agreement in the debate.

The top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs panel, US Rep Gregory Meeks of New York, said, “It is now up to Beijing to demonstrate not just to the United States but to the world that it is serious about respecting international rules and law.”

More from the Associated Press:

US House votes to condemn China over balloon surveillance

Military was able to block balloon’s intelligence collection, defense official tells Senate committee

Thursday 9 February 2023 16:46 , Alex Woodward

Melissa Dalton, the assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and hemispheric affairs, provided a Senate subcommittee with a timeline of the US military’s response and communications with the White House over the course of several days following the discovery of a Chinese surveillance balloon entering the nation’s airspace.

She said once it was observed, the military was able to protect against intelligence collection, which was “relatively straight-forward since we knew where the balloon was”.

The White House initially asked for options to shoot down the balloon, which the military advised against until it was over water and its debris field did not pose a threat to people below. Officials consulted with Nasa to get an idea of the size of its potential debris field. The balloon was 200-feet tall “with a jetliner-sized payload,” Ms Dalton said.

On Friday, President Joe Biden was briefed on the plan to shoot the balloon once it made its way over water the following day.

House unanimously approves GOP resolution to condemn the balloon

Thursday 9 February 2023 16:33 , Alex Woodward

A resolution from Republican US Rep Michael McCaul calls the ballon incident “a brazen violation” of US sovereignty, echoing similar language used by President Joe Biden, White House officials and the US secretary of state.

Earlier this week, Republicans considered introducting a measure that would have condemned the president’s response, but the resolution that lawmakers unanimously supported in a vote of 419-0 on Thursday calls on the administration to provide the House with a “comprehensive briefing on this incident.”

The nonbinding resolution calls for a “complete account” of previous balloon intrusions, an assessment of the data the balloon was potentially able to collect and transmit, and a timeline of events, including the timing of the president’s initial decision to shoot it down and the military’s advisement to do so.

Senators return to a key question: Why wait to shoot down the balloon?

Thursday 9 February 2023 16:12 , Alex Woodward

Several senators on a subcomittee examining the US military’s response to the balloon and China’s surveillance operations have asked why it took several days for officials to agree to shoot it down.

President Joe Biden had ordered the military to shoot it down as soon as safely possible, though military officials – believing there was no imminent physical threat from the balloon – advised to wait until it was over water where it didn’t endanger anything below and could be more easily recovered.

“A key part of the calculus for this operation was the ability to salvage, understand and exploit the capabilities of the balloon,” according to Melissa Dalton, the assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and hemispheric affairs.

She said that shooting it down over Alaska, where it was first observed, could have brought it down into ice cover or waters that are thousands of feet deep in temperatures that would have made recovery and salvage “very dangerous,” she told the committee.

Full story: Chinese spy balloon had communication and intelligence tools, officials reveal

Thursday 9 February 2023 15:48 , Alex Woodward

Chinese authorities have dismissed the Pentagon’s revelation that a high-altitude surveillance balloon shot down by the US military was part of China’s “larger” intelligence-gathering program, but the US Department of State believes the vessel was part of a Chinese military fleet that has performed similar operations in 40 countries across five continents.

In recent days, press reports and military officials have unveiled more details about the scale and scope of China’s surveillance operations, which include at least four other balloon sightings above the US in recent years, including three times during former President Donald Trump’s administration.

Chinese spy balloon had communication and intelligence tools, officials reveal

Today: Defense Department officials to brief Senate committee

Thursday 9 February 2023 15:15 , Alex Woodward

Officials at the US Department of Defense will brief a Senate subcommittee on “China’s High Altitude Surveillance Efforts Against the United States” at 10.15am ET.

Witnesses will include Melissa Dalton, the assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and hemispheric affairs; Jedidiah Royal, the principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs; Vice Admiral Sara Joyner, the director of force structure, resources and assessments at the Joint Staff; and Lt Gen Douglas Sims II, the director for operations at the Joint Staff.

Balloon ‘clearly’ used for intelligence and was part of military fleet that traveled across 40 countries, State Department says

Thursday 9 February 2023 15:00 , Alex Woodward

The Chinese balloon shot down by the US military on Saturday was part of a military fleet of surveillance balloons that have flown over more than 40 countries across five continents, according to the State Department.

Equipment on the recovered aircraft “was clearly for intelligence surveillance and inconsistent with the equipment onboard weather balloons,” officials said on Thursday.

The balloon was equipped with antennas that were “likely capable of collecting and geo-locating communications,” while solar panels on board were large enough to power “multiple active intelligence collection sensors,” according to the agency.

US officials are exploring “action” against Chinese entities that supported the balloon’s construction, after officials said that they believed that a company that manufactured the balloon has ties to China’s military.

“We will also look at broader efforts to expose and address the [PRC’s] larger surveillance activities that pose a threat to our national security, and to our allies and partners,” according to the State Department.

Chinese authorities say Pentagon comments amount to ‘information warfare’ against China

Thursday 9 February 2023 14:32 , Alex Woodward

Chinese authorities have dismissed the Pentagon’s revelation that a surveillance balloon shot down by the US on Saturday was part of China’s “larger” intelligence-gathering program.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the comments amount to “information warfare against China.”

During a Thursday briefing, she said that recent comments from Pentagon press secretary Brigadier General Patrick Ryder “may be part of the US side’s information warfare against China.”

In recent days, press reports and military officials have provided a wider look at the balloon programme and evidence of a larger network of surveillance balloons, including sightings this week in Latin America and at least three times during President Donald Trump’s administration.

“We acted responsibly and prudently to protect our interests” by shooting down the aircraft over the Atlantic Ocean near the coast of South Carolina on Saturday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday.

Officials now are “anaylsing to learn more about the surveillance programme” by examining the remains of the balloon recovered by US Navy sailors,” he added.

At least five balloons discovered above US in recent years, according to officials

Thursday 9 February 2023 14:00 , Alex Woodward

Chinese surveillance balloons were observed in the US at least three times during the Trump administartion – and twice during the Biden administration, including the recent episode in which the president ordered a balloon to be shot down.

The New York Times reports that spy balloons observed in the previous administration were initially classified as unidentified aerial phenomena, officials told the newspaper.

Earlier this week, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said that the Biden administration was able to retroactively identify the presence of Chinese balloons in US airspace during Trump’s term after the president worked to enhance the nation’s “surveillance of our territorial airspace”.

“We enhanced our capacity to be able to detect things that the Trump administration was unable to detect,” he said.

Glen David VanHerck, US Air Force general and commander of the United States Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, told reporters this week that “we did not detect those threats” in previous years.”

“And that’s a domain awareness gap that we have to figure out,” he told reporters on 6 February.

“Day to day we do not have the authority to collect intelligence within the [US],” he added. “In this case, specific authorities were granted to collect intelligence against the balloon specifically, and we utilize specific capabilities to do that.”

What federal investigators hope to recover from the shot-down balloon

Thursday 9 February 2023 13:00 , Alex Woodward

Defense officials told CNN that the US has gained some insight into the balloon’s transit and the kinds of signals it was emitting as it traveled.

But a study of the balloon’s hardware and contents that is underway with FBI assistance will help officials learn more about what exactly it was capable of.

“When the balloon is in our hands, we can look at the technology, we can rebuild the supply chain, find out who helped build it, what components were important to it,” US Rep Jim Himes, the top Democratic lawmaker on the House Intelligence Committee, told the network.

“Obviously you can tell its functions and specifications. There’s a very high intelligence value in having it,” he said.

US Secretary of State: China ‘violated international law and US sovereignty’ with spy balloon

Thursday 9 February 2023 12:00 , Alex Woodward

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said China “violated international law and US sovereignty” with “an irresponsible act” by sending a surveillance balloon to the United States.

In remarks alongside Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg from Washington DC on Wednesday, Mr Blinken said that the US and other world leaders are studying the scale and scope of China’s surveillance programme.

Their discussion examined the “systemic and tactical challenges that China presents” to Nato and “the broader international system,” Mr Blinken said.

“We acted responsibly and prudently to protect our interests” by shooting down the aircraft over the Atlantic Ocean near the coast of South Carolina on Saturday, Mr Blinken said.

Officials now are “anaylsing to learn more about the surveillance programme” by examining the remains of the balloon recovered by US Navy sailors.

He said that the world “expects China and the United States to manage our relationship responsibly”, and he said the US also urges China “to do the same”.

Nato secretary-general: Spy balloon incident speaks to ‘pattern of Chinese behaviour’ of global surveillance

Thursday 9 February 2023 11:00 , Alex Woodward

Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said the Chinese surveillance balloon that was shot down by the US after traveling across the country last week “confirms a pattern of Chinese behaviour” using “different types of intelligence and surveillance platforms” around the world.

Speaking alongside US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington DC, Mr Stoltenberg said world leaders face a “constant risk of Chinese intelligence” that challenges officials to “step up what we do to protect ourselves.”

“We need to react in a prudent, responsible and vigilant way,” he said. “It also highlights that security is not regional.”

Mr Blinken said that the US is recovering “more information almost by the hour” as investigators examine what was salvaged from the balloon after a F-22 fighter jet shot it down off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday.

“As we’ve noted as well, we’re not alone in this,” he said, pointing to intelligence reports revealing China’s global surveillance operation.

“We continue to look to China to act responsibly,” Mr Blinken said.

Pentagon: Balloon incident is ‘part of a larger Chinese surveillance balloon program’

Thursday 9 February 2023 10:00 , Alex Woodward

In recent days, military officials have revealed more about what the US has called a larger network of Chinese spy balloons after the discovery of the aircraft above the US last week.

Pentagon press secretary Brigadier General Patrick Ryder said on Wednesday that at least four other balloons were spotted above the US in recent years, including three times during the Trump administration. The balloons are “part of a larger Chinese surveillance balloon program,” he said.

“This last week provided the United States with a unique opportunity to learn a lot more about the Chinese surveillance balloon program,” he said.

The recovered information “will help us to continue to strengthen our ability to track these kinds of objects,” he added.

Kevin McCarthy tells Fox News that the balloon incident is a kitchen-table issue for most Americans: ‘The atrocity happening to America’

Thursday 9 February 2023 09:00 , Alex Woodward

In an appearance on Fox News on Wednesday, after joining Joe Biden for his State of the Union address, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said that the president failed to adequately address Chinese threats in his speech, claiming that the spy balloon was a “kitchen table” issue – a characterisation usually reserved for things like grocery bills, healthcare, school and gas prices.

In his remarks, the president defended US investments in industry in areas where “China’s government is intent on dominating.” Mr Biden said his administration is “committed to work with China where it can advance American interests and benefit the world,” warning that “if China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country,

Mr McCarthy called the balloon incident, particularly Mr Biden’s response, “an atrocity that is happening to America”.

ICYMI: First images of Chinese spy balloon debris pulled from Atlantic Ocean released by US Navy

Thursday 9 February 2023 07:00 , Alex Woodward

New images released by the US Navy show the debris from a destroyed Chinese spy balloon being pulled from the Atlantic Ocean.

The new photographs are dated 5 February, the day after the balloon was downed by an F-22 Raptor jet.

First images of Chinese spy balloon debris being recovered are released by Navy

Balloons, Big Tech and hacking: How the US sees China’s espionage operation beyond balloons

Thursday 9 February 2023 06:00 , Alex Woodward

FBI Director Christopher Wray has repeatedly said the Chinese government has a larger hacking program than all other countries combined, used to steal personal and corporate data and lucrative source code.

US officials also are mulling actions on TikTok.

But US officials have also disrupted other operations on American soil that took place in person rather than behind a computer.

More from The Associated Press on China’s espionage operations:

Not just balloons: How US sees China spying as major worry

ICYMI: Chinese official claims Biden ‘smeared’ China during State of the Union

Thursday 9 February 2023 04:00 , Alex Woodward

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said that it is “not the practice of a responsible country to smear a country or restrict the country’s legitimate development rights under the excuse of competition, even at the expense of disrupting the global industrial and supply chain.”

More from The Associated Press:

China slams Biden ‘smear’ in State of the Union address

ICYMI: China’s surveillance program spans ‘dozens’ of missions across several countries

Thursday 9 February 2023 03:00 , Alex Woodward

US officials recently briefed roughly 150 people from about 40 embassies on China’s balloon espionage program, which spanned “dozens” of operations since 2018 across several countries, according to an exclusive report from The Washington Post.

The program reportedly relies on technology provided by a private Chinese company that is part of the country’s civil-military fusion effort, which has seen private companies develop technologies and capabilities used by the People’s Liberation Army Air Force.

“These balloons are all part of a PRC fleet of balloons developed to conduct surveillance operations, which also violated the sovereignty of other countries,” a senior defense official said, according to The Post.

Everything we know about Chinese spy balloons that flew above the US during the Trump administration

Thursday 9 February 2023 02:00 , Alex Woodward

President Joe Biden’s administration and senior military officials revealed that similar crafts had flown above the US in previous years, including at least three times during former president Donald Trump’s administration, as part of what national security officials have described as a years-long Chinese global surveillance programme.

Mr Trump and former Trump-era officials, meanwhile, have rejected claims about such flights from the Biden administration, while the former president has called the claims “disinformation”.

What we know about Chinese spy balloons that flew over US during Trump administration