The Chinese balloon spotted and shot down last week by the US forms part of a multi-country surveillance programme Beijing has developed over “several years”, according to a senior White House official.
Late on Wednesday, US President Joe Biden said that “China knows exactly what the deal is with us” when asked about the balloon incident in an interview with PBS.
He once again rejected the idea that shooting down the balloon made US-China relations worse.
Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.
“I made it real clear to Xi Jinping that we’re going to compete fully with China, but we’re not looking for conflict. And that’s been the case so far,” Biden said.
The unmanned balloon flying above American skies pointed to a “concerted effort” by China to develop its capability for additional surveillance assets over countries without their permission and knowledge, said National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.
“This is a programme that the Chinese have been working on for several years. They have been trying to improve it, and grow it, and increase it and to gain intelligence insight from it,” Kirby said at a press conference on Wednesday.
“And the United States is not the only nation that has been affected by this.”
The Pentagon on Wednesday offered an identical assessment. Brigadier General Pat Ryder said at a briefing that “what we now subsequently assess to be Chinese balloons [have been] operating over at least five continents in regions like Latin America, South America, Southeast Asia, East Asia and Europe”.
Ryder said the other balloons “share the common characteristic of being surveillance balloons”, varying in size and capability.
But he reiterated recent Pentagon statements that the information collection proficiencies of the suspected Chinese spy balloon did not afford a greater “advantage” compared to other capabilities the US knows China to possess.
The Pentagon said in a 2022 report to Congress that China had developed military satellites able to support monitoring, tracking and targeting of US and allied forces.
Xi, Biden stake claims in China-US rivalry by touting opposing systems
Kirby said the US would discuss the “Chinese spy balloon programme” on Wednesday with some allies and partners around the world, as the Biden administration believed it was important for those countries to be apprised.
The US has reportedly already briefed 40 countries about the Chinese balloon detected last week, carrying out its efforts in both Washington and Beijing.
Asked about Beijing’s response to Washington’s outreach, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning on Wednesday told reporters “it is hoped that the US will communicate with other countries based on facts”.
The appearance of the suspected spy balloon led to the postponement of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s planned visit to China on February 5-6. His visit was meant to “build a floor” under the fraught bilateral relationship.
‘Spy’ balloon row: no point in Blinken visit, senior Chinese diplomat says
Blinken also said that the US was not the only target of a “broader” Chinese surveillance programme and that Washington has shared information it has obtained about China’s balloon with dozens of countries around the world, during a joint press conference with Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday.
Stoltenberg said the flight of the balloon confirmed a pattern of Chinese behaviour in building up new military capabilities and that China had also increased intelligence activities in Europe.
“We need to be aware of the constant risk of Chinese intelligence, and then step up what we do to protect ourselves,” he said.
In light of reports that China declined a request to have a phone call with US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin on Saturday after the balloon was shot down, Ryder stressed that “we’re going to continue to keep the lines of communication open on our end”.
Ryder on Wednesday expressed confidence that the balloon flying over the US was for surveillance purposes, refuting Beijing’s claim it was an “unmanned civilian airship”.
“If in fact, it was a civilian balloon, a weather balloon, and it was approaching a sovereign nation about to enter their airspace, a responsible nation would have put out some kind of public statement saying, ‘hey, heads up, this is heading your way’,” Ryder said.
“The PRC did not do that. They didn’t respond until after they were called out.”
US lawmakers urged to boost trade blocs, alliances after Chinese balloon row
Kirby said “nothing has changed” after the balloon incident in terms of the White House’s strategy of seeking strategic competition but not conflict with China, echoing a statement highlighted during Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday.
Hours before Biden’s speech, the Chinese embassy in Washington conveyed its concern to senior officials at the US State Department and the National Security Council over the balloon’s downing.
“We urge the US side not to take any actions that may escalate and complicate the situation,” the embassy said in a statement.
More from South China Morning Post:
- US military didn’t know if missile that took out Chinese ‘spy balloon’ would work, commander says
- Republican US lawmaker to lead Taiwan trip amid China balloon tensions
- First close-up images of Chinese ‘spy balloon’ revealed as US Navy pulls it from ocean
- When did China first know its balloon was in US airspace?
For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2023.
