US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday (8) that Washington has spotted Chinese balloons flying over dozens of nations in recent years and, therefore, shared with 40 countries information on what he called a “broader program” .
“We are doing this because the United States is not the only target of this broader program, which has violated the sovereignty of countries on five continents,” said the head of the US chancellery. China maintains that the balloon was mainly used to collect meteorological information.
At a news conference, Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder said the artifacts were sighted over Latin America, Southeast and East Asia, and Europe, which actually totals three continents.
Blinken also said the United States was acquiring more information “almost hourly” about the Chinese high-altitude balloon shot down last Saturday – whose wreckage was recovered by the Americans – and that it would be shared with Congress and external allies.
US intelligence attributes the balloon that flew over the country to a surveillance program operated for years by Beijing and originated in Hainan province, an island off the south coast of China.
According to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to The Washington Post, the project would have collected military intelligence in countries and areas strategic for Beijing, including neighbors and regional rivals such as India, Japan, Vietnam, Philippines and Taiwan, island territory that China considers a rebellious province and has been the subject of tension.
At a press conference with Blinken, Jens Stoltenberg, secretary general of NATO (Western military alliance), said that the balloon case confirmed China’s behavior patterns and the need for attention to Beijing’s intelligence activity.
Still according to Stoltenberg, the Chinese are increasing “substantially” their military strength, including nuclear weapons, without transparency.
This Wednesday, US President Joe Biden reinforced that the incident does not affect relations with Beijing. “I talk to them. I spoke with Xi Jinping before, and our teams talk to each other,” he said, echoing the message in his State of the Union address, on Tuesday (7), when he said he sought “competition, not conflict” with the rival power.
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