Spy balloon – live: Biden says ‘nothing suggests’ three shot-down objects tied to China

In his most in-depth public remarks on the incidents, President Joe Biden said there is no evidence suggesting that three recently shot-down aerial objects spotted in North American airspace are connected to China.

The US president explained their discovery after US officials “closely scrutinised our airspace, including enhancing our radar to pick up more slow moving objects” but said the administration does not yet know “what exactly” the objects were, though “nothing suggests” that they came from China, as White House officials previously discussed.

Mr Biden said he makes “no apologies” for ordering an American fighter jet to shoot down a Chinese surveillance balloon, which he said sent a “clear message that the violation of our sovereignty is unacceptable.”

US intelligence officials are considering the possibility that strong air currents may have inadvertently pulled the balloon off its planned course to send it over mainland America, while diplomats from both countries scrambled to respond to the surprise intrusion.

Chinese authorities, meanwhile, have continued to deny that the balloon was used for intelligence gathering and suggested China could take “countermeasures”.

Key points

• Joe Biden makes ‘no apologies’ for shooting down balloon

• Balloon may have mistakenly – at least partially – entered American heartland

• China suggests taking ‘countermeasures’ against US

• White House says three unidentified objects believed to be ‘benign’

• US military says it has recovered ‘significant’ electronics from downed Chinese ‘spy’ balloon

Biden administration briefs Trump-era officials on balloon sightings

05:00 , Alex Woodward

Biden administration officials on Wednesday briefed Trump-era national security officials and members of the former president’s cabinet on Chinese surveillance balloons that were recently uncovered having traveled over North American airspace during the last administration.

The briefings included former national security adviser Robert O’Brien, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and former National Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe, according to NBC News.

Former national security adviser John Bolton also said yesterday that he would be attending the briefing.

“It is something that [China has] been working on for many years, and that they have tried to improve … in terms of capability, range [and] communication,” White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters in a phone briefing on 6 February.

According to the White House and military officials, at least three similar balloons were above the US at some points during the Trump administration, which began in January 2017 and ended in January 2021,

Those previous flights were “brief” and “nothing like we saw” with the balloon that cruised across North America earlier this month, Mr Kirby said.

Here’s what we know so far about those balloons:

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

Top US and China officials could meet face to face in Munich

03:00 , Alex Woodward

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is reportedly considering a meeting with Chinese diplomat Wang Yi at the Munich Security Conference starting this week, marking what would be the first face-to-face talks between the nations after the US shot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon on 4 February.

If they don’t meet there, Mr Blinken also could meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang at the G-20 Foreign Ministers meeting in India next month, where both officials are scheduled to attend.

Vice President Harris also is attending the Munich conference, potentially setting up another chance for in-person encounters between American and Chinese officials after the balloon incident.

US officials including Ms Harris have insisted that the incident has not changed the nation’s relationship with China, though Chinese authorities have repeatedly accused the US of violating international accords and have threatened “countermeasures” after alleging American surveillance balloons were deployed in their own airspace. The White House has denied the allegation.

‘Sky trash’ or ‘research’ balloons? Why unidentified objects wound up on the US military’s expanding radars

01:00 , Alex Woodward

They could be “sky trash”, “benign” weather balloons, “balloons tied to private companies, recreation or research institutions studying weather or conducting other scientific research,” or any number of other objects.

But the objects that were shot down above North American airspace in recent days are likely not from China or used for surveillance by any other country, according to officials and analysts.

Why did they wind up on the US military’s radar?

We explain:

Did China launch the other objects shot down by American fighter jets?

Hobby group worried that F-22’s Sidewinder missile destroyed research balloon

00:00 , Alex Woodward

An Illinois-based hobbyist group is worried that their globe-trotting research balloon one of the three unidentified aerial objects shot down by US fighter jets using Sidewinder missiles in US and Canadian airspace.

Hobby group worried that F-22’s Sidewinder missile destroyed research balloon

Biden: ‘We’re not looking for a new Cold War'

23:00 , Alex Woodward

President Joe Biden underscored recent statements from the State Department and other top US officials stressing that the balloon incident has not fractured the nation’s relationship with China, and that the administration is guided by a principle of “competition, not conflict” with Beijing.

“We’re not looking for a new Cold War,” the president said in his remarks on Thursday.

Mr Biden said he anticipates speaking with President Xi at some point.

His remarks on the nation’s diplomatic strategy also come as a group of top US diplomats, including Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, head to the Munich Security Conference, which Chinese officials are also expected to attend.

Everything we know about the mysterious ‘objects’ shot down by US warplanes

22:10 , Alex Woodward

US military fighter jets were deployed four times within eight days to strike down a large suspected Chinese surveillance balloon and three smaller unidentified flying objects in the skies over Alaska, Lake Huron, and in the Yukon territory of Canada.

For three days in a row, US military fighter jets brought down similar high-altitude objects, all within a week after a large airship, allegedly sent by China to spy on the US mainland, seized the national news agenda as it drifted across the country before it was destroyed off the coast of South Carolina.

Here’s everything we know about them, and why we suddenly started seeing them:

Everything we know about the ‘objects’ shot down by US warplanes

Biden outlines four measures to monitor US airspace after balloon incident and flying objects

21:30 , Alex Woodward

President Joe Biden has directed his administration to implement four measures to have a better understanding of what exactly is in the air, how to regulate their launch, and to create “global norms” for what he called “largely unregulated” airspace.

The measures include an inventory of unmanned flying objects that is “accessible and up to date,” better detection of unmanned objects in North American airspace, and updated rules and regulations for launching unmanned objects.

President Biden also said that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will lead an effort to help “establish common global norms in this largely unregulated space.”

“These steps will lead to safer and more secure skies for our air travelers, our military, our scientists and for people on the ground as well,” Mr Biden added.

Watch: Biden responds to shouted questions after balloon remarks

21:10 , Alex Woodward

Biden calls NBC News reporter after shouted questions

20:53 , Alex Woodward

After his remarks on the balloon and three other objects shot down by American fighter jets, reporters shouted a series of questions all at once.

He told one reporter “you can come to my office and ask a question when you have more polite people.”

That appears to have been NBC News White House correspondent Peter Alexander.

The president called his cell phone after his remarks, he said.

In his phone interview, Mr Biden said he did not think it was an overreaction to shoot down the three objects, saying that he “got a recommendation from the military.”

He also said he intends to talk with Chinese President Xi Jinping but declined in the interview to say when.

“I think the last thing that Xi wants is to fundamentally rip the relationship with the United States and with me,” he said.

Parameters for shooting down objects won’t be made public, Biden says

20:43 , Alex Woodward

The Biden administration will not make public any future parameters for determining whether to blow something out of US airspace, the president said on Thursday.

He said such information will be shared with members of Congress – many of whom have criticised the administration for not quickly sharing with them more information about the balloon and shot-down objects – but those rules will not be released publicly.

The president said sharing that information would provide a “roadmap to our enemies to try to evade our defenses.”

‘Give me a break, man’: Biden refuses to take questions over China after balloon statement

20:06 , Alex Woodward

After his remarks on the balloon and three other objects shot down by American fighter jets, reporters shouted a series of questions all at once.

One reporter asked whether the president is “compromised by your family’s business relationships.”

“Give me a break, man,” he replied, laughing.

‘Give me a break’: Biden refuses to take questions over China after balloon statement

Full story: Shot-down objects were probably scientific and not linked to China but posed risk to air traffic, Biden says

19:36 , Alex Woodward

President Joe Biden said the trio of objects shot down by US fighter jets over the last week were most likely “balloons tied to private companies, recreation or research institutions” and not linked to the Chinese espionage program responsible for a larger airship that traveled through US airspace earlier this month.

Biden says shot-down objects probably not China-linked but posed risk to air traffic

Biden makes ‘no apologies’ for shooting down balloon

19:24 , Alex Woodward

President Joe Biden said there is no evidence suggesting that three recently shot-down aerial objects spotted in North American airspace are connected to China, while he made “no apologies” for ordering American fighter jets to shoot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon earlier this month.

The US president explained the three objects’ discovery after US officials “closely scrutinised our airspace, including enhancing our radar to pick up more slow-moving objects” but said the administration does not yet know “what exactly” the three objects were.

“I want to be clear: we don’t have any evidence that there has been a sudden increase in the number of objects in the sky,” he added.

His order to shoot down the balloon sent a “clear message that the violation of our sovereignty is unacceptable,” he said.

Watch live: Biden to discuss balloon and other aerial objects

19:09 , Alex Woodward

A hobbyist group is worried that an F-22’s Sidewinder missile destroyed its research balloon

19:08 , Alex Woodward

The “Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade” is worried that a small, globe-trotting balloon was fired out of the sky by a US military heatseeking missile.

The Illinois-based hobbyist club declared its balloon “missing in action” on 15 February, according to Aviation Week.

The group fears that its balloon was one of three struck down by US fighter jets armed with Sidewinder missiles above North American airspace in recent days.

A “pico balloon” reported its last position on 10 February at 38,910 feet off the west coast of Alaska, projected to be floating towards the central Yukon territory of Canada on 11 February – the same day that a Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor jet fired a Sidewinder missile at an unidentified object flying at about 40,000 feet in the same area after tracking it from Alaskan airspace.

White House: China is ‘trying to spin’ balloon incident as US aims for open lines of communication to build on relationship

18:40 , Alex Woodward

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre accused Chinese authorities of “deflecting, coming up with excuses, and trying to spin” the appearance of a surveillance balloon over the US, as officials in China continue to insist that it was a civilian craft that drifted off course.

“At the end of the day, their surveillance balloon was indeed in our airspace,” she told reporters on Thursday. “The American people, the entire world, saw what China did and it’s irresponsible.”

She said that the administration’s approach with China “is going to be calm, resolute and practical”.

“We’re going to keep our airways, our communications line open, as they have been before … and after,” she added. “It is up to China how they want to move forward with this relationship … Are they going to build on that and show it’s something they’re willing to do? And that’s on them.”

White House on Chinese sanctions against US military contractors: ‘Symbolic’ and ‘unncessary'

18:32 , Alex Woodward

China announced on Thursday sanctions against two US military contractors – Lockheed Martin and Raytheon – over arms sales to Taiwan.

It is not immediately clear how those sanctions will impact the manufacturers of key defense equipment, including fighter jets and missiles. The US already bars weapon technology sales to China.

China also announced sanctions against the companies last year following the announcement of a $100m arms sale.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Peirre called the latest sanctions “symbolic measures and unnecessary.”

White House: Biden to discuss objects and ‘decisive’ US response

18:23 , Alex Woodward

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Thursday that the president will discuss the administration’s “decisive response to China’s high-altitude surveillance balloon” and three other objects recently fired out of the sky by American fighter jets.

His remarks will also discuss “putting the safety and security of American people always first,” she added.

The work of an interagency team appointed by the president to study the issue of such objects is ongoing, she said.

Just in: President will speak in one hour on US ‘response to recent aerial objects'

18:08 , Alex Woodward

The White House has confirmed that President Joe Biden will give remarks from the South Court Auditorium at 2pm about “the United States’ response to recent aerial objects”.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is hosting a briefing momentarily.

TikTok’s CEO says he isn’t taking things ‘lightly’ as lawmakers use balloon incident to rev up talks about app’s future in the US

17:45 , Alex Woodward

Lawmakers have used the Chinese surveillance balloon incident to boost policy discussions about TikTok in the United States, and officials across the country are mulling outright bans over security concerns.

The company’s CEO Shou Zi Chew told The Washington Post that “tough conversations” are needed before such decisions are made.

Mr Chew, the former chief financial officer of TikTok’s Beijing-based parent company ByteDance, told the newspaper that suspicions that allegations or concerns that the company is abusing user information are “misinformed” or based on “misrepresentations.”

He said that he did not believe the company would hand over such information to the Chinese government “because US user data is subject to US law.”

“We have to have tough conversations on: Who is using it now? What kind of value does it bring to them? What does it mean if we just, like, rip it out of their hands?” he told the newspaper. “I don’t take this conversation of ‘let’s just ban TikTok’ very lightly. … I don’t think it’s a trivial question. I don’t think it should be something that’s decided, you know, in 280 characters.”

New details emerge about China and US diplomatic attempts to resolve balloon incident before its destruction

17:10 , Alex Woodward

Emerging details about the decisions made among US and Chinese officials as a balloon made its way across America reveal some confusion and critical misreadings among the world powers that boiled over into partisan battles and media frenzy.

US officials told The New York Times that a self-destruct function did not operate when the Chinese surveillance balloon entered North American airspace over Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, though it is unclear whether the operators refused to detonate the device or if it failed.

Officials also told the newspaper that they believe that China then may have been reluctant to detonate the balloon once it was over the mainland, fearing political fallout if the debris had caused any damage below.

It also is unclear whether operators misread wind currents that carried the balloon in and out of American airspace or allowed it to drift to see what it could collect, The Times reported, echoing similar findings from intelligence officials who spoke with The Washington Post.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and deputy secretary Wendy Sherman reportedly issued a formal notice to a senior Chinese diplomat at about 6.30 pm ET on 1 February, telling him that his government must do something about the balloon.

More than 24 hours later, Chinese foreign ministry officials in Beijing spoke privately to diplomats in the US Embassy to tell them the balloon was a harmless civilian machine that had gone off course, according to the newspaper.

Early on 4 February, Chinese officials told their US counterparts that operators were trying to speed it out of the country, but by then the Biden administration was planning to shoot it out of the sky once it reached the coast of South Carolina.

Chinese spy balloon may have drifted into American mainland by mistake

China blasts US lawmakers for ‘fanning the flames’ of tension between nations with congressional resolutions

16:46 , Alex Woodward

China has warned the US against escalating tensions between the two nation’s in the wake of the surveillance balloon shoot down as Joe Biden prepares to deliver remarks on the incident.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin also has urged the US lawmakers to avoid escalating the situation, after the House and Senate unanimously passed resolutions condemning China for sending the balloon into US airspace.

Lawmakers “took advantage of the issue and fanned the flames, fully exposing their sinister intention to oppose China and contain China,” according to the statement from the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National People’s Congress

US military ‘opened the aperture’ of radars to better capture what’s up there, defense secretary says

16:00 , Alex Woodward

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin acknowledged that a series of objects shot down by American fighter jets above North America may have been there for some time, as the US military tweaks its radars to better capture what’s in its airspace after the balloon incident.

He told NBC News that the military “opened the aperture” of radars and is analysing data differently, echoing other military officials who have recently explained how such filiter tweaks are bringing in all kinds of newer raw data that would have otherwise been filtered out as clutter in the past.

“We typically are focused on things that are moving fast, and so it’s a bit more difficult to collect on slow-moving objects like a balloon,” Mr Austin said.

He said that officials do not know how frequently such objects have appeared in US airspace. “We’re learning a lot more about that,” he added.

No one has taken ownership of last three objects, US defense secretary says

15:45 , Alex Woodward

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told NBC News on Wednesday that no one has taken ownership of three unidentified objects in North American airspace that were recently shot down by American fighter jets.

“We don’t know ... how frequently these things may or may not have appeared in our air space. We’re learning a lot more about that,” he said.

Biden administration likely ‘overcorrected’ by shooting down recent aerial objects, think tank chief says

15:32 , Alex Woodward

Bruce McClintock, the head of global policy think tank the RAND Corporation’s Space Enterprise Initiative, told The Hill that the Biden administration likely “overcorrected” by shooting down three unknown objects above North American airspace in recent days.

Officials are reportedly mulling whether to rely on the Space Surveillance Network, which tracks and monitors objects in outer space, to help detect lower-altitude objects.

But Mr McClinktock said that “the lower you tune down things to pick up smaller objects … the more likely you are to have these kinds of false alarms,” he said.

“It’s not like any nation, including the United States, has unlimited bandwidth to look for these objects,” he added. “They have to make decisions about where to focus their sensors.”

Biden administration briefs Trump-era officials on balloon sightings

15:00 , Alex Woodward

Biden administration officials on Wednesday briefed Trump-era national security officials and members of the former president’s cabinet on Chinese surveillance balloons that were recently uncovered having traveled over North American airspace during the last administration.

The briefings included former national security adviser Robert O’Brien, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and former National Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe, according to NBC News.

Former national security adviser John Bolton also said yesterday that he would be attending the briefing.

“It is something that [China has] been working on for many years, and that they have tried to improve … in terms of capability, range [and] communication,” White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters in a phone briefing on 6 February.

According to the White House and military officials, at least three similar balloons were above the US at some points during the Trump administration, which began in January 2017 and ended in January 2021,

Those previous flights were “brief” and “nothing like we saw” with the balloon that cruised across North America earlier this month, Mr Kirby said.

Here’s what we know so far about those balloons:

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

Joe Biden to deliver remarks on downing of aerial ‘objects’

14:43 , Alex Woodward

President Joe Biden is expected to address the shooting down of a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon and three other objects that entered North American airspace in his most extensive public remarks on the incidents yet.

The president could deliver remarks as early today but the exact timing of his address has not been settled yet. CNN reported on Wednesday that the White House was considering remarks, and NBC News reported that the remarks are in the works.

Members of Congress over the weekend were calling on the administration to provide them with more information on the three latest objects after receiving closed-door briefings on the surveillance craft. Senators were briefed in classified hearings on Tuesday, and Republican Senators later demanded that the president address the public on the issue.

“The American people deserve to hear more from the president on all of these issues,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters on Tuesday.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken explains why he cancelled his trip to China

14:00 , Alex Woodward

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he intended to keep lines of communication open with Beijing to reflect the Biden administration’s push for “diplomacy and engagement” with China, but the surveillance balloon sighting did not create the “right conditions” for his trip to China that was abruptly canceled.

“We’re committed to responsibly managing the competition between the United States and China, and we look to Beijing to do the same,” he told NPR.

The ballon incident was an “irresponsible act and a violation of our sovereignty and international law,” he added.

“But it doesn’t take away from the fact that we are committed to finding ways to responsibly manage it. We believe that diplomacy and engagement are important,” Mr Blinken said. “In fact, this only underscores the importance of having lines of communication. That was in part the purpose of the trip I had intended to take, but in the context of the surveillance balloon, those weren’t the right conditions to go forward with the trip.”

The trip was canceled as administration officials weighed their response to the balloon sighting. It was ultimately shot down over the Atlantic Ocean near the coast of South Carolina on 4 February.

The White House has said the trip was not canceled but postponed and stressed that the incident has not stopped diplomats from both countries from keeping up talks and open lines of communcations.

“We still have an embassy there,” the National Security Council’s John Kirby said on Tuesday. “We still have an ability through Secretary Blinken’s good offices to communicate with senior Chinese leaders.”

Top US and China officials could meet face to face in Munich

13:00 , Alex Woodward

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is reportedly considering a meeting with Chinese diplomat Wang Yi at the Munich Security Conference starting this week, marking what would be the first face-to-face talks between the nations after the US shot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon on 4 February.

Sources told Reuters that a meeting was possible at some point during the conference, though nothing has been confirmed.

If they don’t meet there, Mr Blinken also could meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang at the G-20 Foreign Ministers meeting in India next month, where both officials are scheduled to attend.

Vice President Harris also is attending the Munich conference, potentially setting up another chance for in-person encounters between American and Chinese officials after the balloon incident.

US officials including Ms Harris have insisted that the incident has not changed the nation’s relationship with China, though Chinese authorities have repeatedly accused the US of violating international accords and have threatened “countermeasures” after alleging American surveillance balloons were deployed in their own airspace. The White House has denied the allegation.

Defense secretary Lloyd Austin, however, unsuccessfully tried calling his Chinese counterpart in the balloon aftermath. China had refused the call.

Biden could deliver remarks this week on shot-down objects, report says

12:00 , Alex Woodward

President Joe Biden could deliver remarks this week addressing the Chinese surveillance balloon and three other objects recently shot down by fighter jets in North American airspace.

CNN reports that administration officials are “actively weighing” a potential address, noting that officials have been wary of the president giving public remarks until more information was uncovered.

Members of Congress over the weekend were calling on the administration to provide them with more information on the three latest objects after receiving closed-door briefings on the surveillance craft. Senators were briefed in classified hearings on Tuesday, and Republican Senators later demanded that the president address the public on the issue.

“The American people deserve to hear more from the president on all of these issues,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters on Tuesday.