The Chinese surveillance balloon shot down by the U.S. was equipped to detect and collect intelligence signals as part of a huge, military-linked aerial surveillance program that targeted more than 40 countries, the Biden administration declared Thursday, citing imagery from American U-2 spy planes.
A State Department official went on to say that the administration is looking into “taking action” against China for the balloons. It’s also weighing actions to reprimand Beijing for the incursion into American airspace as well as “broader efforts to expose and address” its surveillance activities that threaten national security.
The official added that the department was specifically considering measures against Chinese entities linked to its military that supported the balloon’s operations.
Following the fresh wave of scrutiny from the Hill Thursday over why the balloon wasn’t shot down before it traversed the country, State Dept. spokesperson Ned Price repeated the administration’s talking points, saying the aircraft was monitored closely and the information gleaned was of value.
“There was value to us in tracking and assessing the activities of the balloon so that we could, in a sense, flip the script, so that we could learn more about this capability even as the PRC had deployed it in our airspace in an effort to learn more about us,” he said.
Source-ABC
