The Chinese balloon that flew over the United States last week and was shot down by Washington on Saturday had ability to intercept communications signals And form part of a sophisticated and extensive espionage program who has made these devices fly over more than 40 countries on five continents. That is at least the complaint made this Thursday by the US State Department, trying to dismantle the defense of Xi Jinping’s government that it was a balloon dedicated to the meteorological research and analysis.
The US government has supported his accusations declassifying information that they collected U-2 Spy Planes, to whom it was given special authorization to operate (the espionage of the US military within its own territory is prohibited by law). That information includes high resolution images which according to the US confirm that the balloon had “multiple antennas which included a deployment probably able to rechocollect and geolocate communications& rdquor ;, in addition to solar panels capable of producing enough energy to operate “multiple active intelligence-gathering sensors”.
Was intended “clearly for espionage surveillance” and it was “inconsistent with the equipment on board weather balloons & rdquor; according to a statement with statements protected by the anonymity of a State source that has been distributed before Defense charges will report to a Senate committee in a public hearing. And although the government of Joe Biden It is not known exactly what information was collected or what specific sites were on the target, it is said to have evidence “that these balloons are part of a PRC fleet developed to carry out surveillance operations & rdquor ;, an element that promises to continue raising the already marked tensions in the bilateral relationship.
Private business and retaliation
The US attributes to People’s Liberation Army the operation of the balloons, which makes a company to which Washington assigns “with high confidence & rdquor; direct links to the military Chinese. And it has been explained that “on its website the company also advertises balloon products and has videos of previous flights, which have apparently flown over the airspace of the US and other countries & rdquor ;, images in which the balloons follow flight patterns similar to those of those detected last week.
The US has warned that it will explore “undertaking Actions against entities that supported the raid of the balloon in American airspace & rdquor; and has announced that it will study “expanding the efforts to expose and deal with espionage activities of the People’s Republic of China that represent a threat & rdquor; both for the national security of the US and its “allies and partners & rdquor ;. According to two government sources from ‘The Wall Street Journal’, the Administration is studying add six companies government-backed Chinese list of entities that maintains the Department of Commerce that imposes barriers to doing business with the listed companies.
Condemnation in Congress
Also this Thursday House of Representatives has approved by unanimity a sentencing resolution to the Chinese Communist Party in which Beijing is denounced for a “blatant violation of American sovereignty” and for their “efforts to deceive the international community with false allegations about their intelligence-gathering campaigns& rdquor ;.
The text has achieved the full support of the Democrats after the Republican leadership appeased the far-right wing efforts to include in the resolution a condemnation of Biden for not shooting down the balloon before Saturday. In the pre-vote debate, however, the Conservatives have again raised criticism of the president, who on Tuesday, in his State of the Union address, tiptoed over the incident but also sent a strong message to Beijing of that it will act in case of violations of its national sovereignty.
The resolution also urges the Administration to release more information on all detected Chinese spy balloon incursions around the world. The US claims to have discovered at least five instances of Chinese spy balloons over its territory, including three that operated during the Donald Trump Administrationwhen they were identified as unidentified aerial phenomena.
Related news