A Chinese balloon over the territory of the US state of Montana, February 1, 2023.
Washington – China has deployed its spy balloons around the world, they have been spotted on five continents, the White House said. According to him, the United States is in contact with its allies on this matter. The Pentagon said that the US government is aware of several flights of Chinese balloons over US territory, news agencies report.
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Last week on Saturday, a US military fighter jet shot down a Chinese balloon that the United States called a spy balloon that flew over American territory. Beijing condemned the downing of its balloon, saying it was a civilian flying object.
“Chinese balloons were observed over countries on five continents,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, according to AFP. The devices “violated the sovereignty” of these countries, she added.
According to earlier information from The Washington Post, the balloon was part of Beijing's extensive surveillance program, which China has used for years to collect information on military installations abroad. In particular, Beijing uses balloons to spy on Asian countries such as Japan, India, Vietnam, the Philippines and Taiwan.
The Pentagon said today that Washington was aware of four Chinese spy flights prior to last week's incident. balloons over places in the US that could be “of interest to the Chinese”. But he did not provide any more detailed information about the route of the balloons or whether they were military objects over which they flew, Reuters reported. certain advantages around the earth at regular intervals. They fly closer to Earth and their path, influenced by the wind, is not as predictable as the orbits of satellites. They can also evade radars and hover over areas of interest, while satellites are usually in constant motion. Even simple cameras on balloons can take clearer pictures than cameras on orbiting satellites. Other tracking devices can pick up signals that normal satellites can't reach.
