China's spy balloon program linked to global surveillance efforts: Pentagon

'We are now learning more about the scale of this Chinese balloon surveillance program, which U.S. intelligence and the Pentagon have been observing for several years,' he said. 'Our awareness and understanding of this capability has increased.'

China's spy balloon program linked to global surveillance efforts: Pentagon
AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes
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On Wednesday, senior U.S. military and national security officials confirmed the crash of a Chinese spy balloon off South Carolina's coastline over the weekend was linked to a major PLA surveillance program run out of China’s Hainan Island province.

The Pentagon has long been aware of China’s surveillance programs, but the latest incident has highlighted the scope and scale of Beijing’s intelligence gathering capabilities. Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, Department of Defense press secretary, said the U.S. had been tracking China's surveillance practices before the latest balloon arrived stateside last week, Fox News reported.

"We are now learning more about the scale of this Chinese balloon surveillance program, which U.S. intelligence and the Pentagon have been observing for several years," he said. "Our awareness and understanding of this capability has increased."

He noted that the program operated over at least five continents, including Latin America, South America, Southeast Asia, East Asia and Europe, and called it “the pacing challenge” for the Department of Defense.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also commented on the balloons, calling them “part of a PRC [People's Republic of China] fleet of balloons developed to conduct surveillance operations” that have “violated the sovereignty” of several nations.

China has attempted to downplay the incident by asserting the balloon was simply a weather balloon that had gone off course, but the U.S. has rejected that explanation.

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