NBC News has reported that the Chinese spy balloon that crossed the United States in February gathered intelligence from several US military sites and sent it back to Beijing in real-time. The Chinese government had earlier claimed that the balloon was a weather ship that had strayed into US airspace by mistake. US President Joe Biden had ordered the balloon to be shot down on February 4. The Chinese government reacted angrily and warned of repercussions over America’s use of force against its civilian unmanned airship.
The NBC report says that the high-altitude balloon controlled by Beijing made multiple passes over some of the sites before it was shot down. It flew in a figure-eight formation, according to two current senior US officials and one former senior administration official cited by NBC. The officials said that the spy balloon could transmit the information it collected back to Beijing in real-time. The information collected by China was mostly from electronic signals, NBC said. No official from the US or China has commented on the report.
The balloon flew over the US and Canada early in February before it was shot down off the Atlantic Coast. In response, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed a planned visit to Beijing. Later, Beijing claimed that Washington had sent spy balloons into its airspace more than 10 times since January 2022. Foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said that it was not uncommon for the US to illegally enter the airspace of other countries. ‘Since last year alone, US balloons have illegally flown above China more than 10 times without any approval from Chinese authorities,’ he added. While the US had warned China against flying spy balloons over US territory, it did not think it had a significant impact on its national security.
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