Days after the US military shot down a Chinese surveillance craft that was floating over vital installations in the country, a media source claimed that China had operated a fleet of spy balloons that were aimed at numerous nations, including India and Japan. A fighter jet shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday in the Atlantic Ocean. US officials have informed their friends and allies of the balloon’s discovery, including India. A briefing on it was given to representatives from around 40 embassies on Monday by Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman.
According to a report from The Washington Post published on Tuesday, “the surveillance balloon effort, which has operated for several years in part out of Hainan province off the south coast of China, has gathered information on military assets in nations and areas of emerging strategic interest to China, including Japan, India, Vietnam, Taiwan, and the Philippines.” Interviews with multiple unnamed defence and intelligence officials served as the basis for The Post’s investigation.
These surveillance airships, which the PLA (People’s Liberation Army) air force operates in part, have reportedly been detected over five continents, according to officials, the newspaper stated.
A senior defence official was cited as saying, “These balloons are all a part of a fleet of balloons produced by the PRC (People’s Republic of China) to conduct surveillance activities, which also infringed the sovereignty of other countries.”
The daily claims that, in addition to the balloon that was monitored last week, at least four other balloons have been seen in recent years over Hawaii, Florida, Texas, and Guam. Although three of the four incidents occurred while Trump was president, Chinese surveillance airships were only recently found to be responsible, it claimed.
On Tuesday, the high-altitude surveillance balloon was recovered, as seen in a number of photos supplied by the Pentagon.
