“Incredibly Ancient Technology”
Are China Balloons Part of a Big Spy Program?
02/08/2023, 03:30 am
After a Chinese balloon was shot down off the east coast of the US, a similar flying object appeared over Central America. According to one report, the balloons are part of a major Chinese espionage program. The target is the armed forces of other countries.
According to a report by the Washington Post, the suspected spy balloon shot down by the United States from China is part of Beijing’s extensive surveillance program. Such balloons have been collecting information about military installations in countries and areas of strategic interest to China for years, the newspaper reported, citing US intelligence sources. These included, for example, Japan, India, Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines. The balloons would operate in part from the coast of the southern Chinese island of Hainan. So far they have been sighted on five continents.
The recent appearance of a Chinese surveillance balloon suspected of being used for espionage over US territory has further chilled the already chilly relations between the two countries. The US military shot down the Chinese balloon off the coast of the state of South Carolina over the Atlantic. Washington accuses China of using the balloon to spy on military installations. The government in Beijing, on the other hand, spoke of a civilian research balloon that had gone off course.
“The Chinese have combined incredibly ancient technology with modern communications and observation capabilities to gather intelligence on other countries’ armed forces,” the Washington Post quoted an unnamed US official as saying. The US State Department has sent detailed information about the surveillance balloons to each US embassy, which can be shared with allies and partners, according to the newspaper. “Our allies and partners are very interested,” said the government representative.