Chinese spy balloon

The revelation comes days before Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to Beijing, where he is expected to meet with President Xi Jinping.

At the same time, he is a proponent of President Biden’s goal of keeping open channels of communication with China to avoid a deterioration of the relationship. [permissive stance](https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/09/15/world/ukraine-russia-war) toward the Russian invasion of Ukraine has also strained relations. On Thursday, the Defense Department said the U.S. The Biden administration has aggressively moved to check China’s ability to further its technological and military ambitions, drawing fiery rebukes from Beijing. The Pentagon assessed that the spy balloon “did not provide anything that ‘other’ Chinese collections did not already provide them,” Michael P. Still, a senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the balloon did not pose a military or physical threat and added that it had limited value in collecting intelligence. The revelation comes as tensions between Beijing and Washington have been on the rise. Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, told reporters that the balloon was traveling “well above commercial air traffic,” adding that “once the balloon was detected, the U.S. Blinken’s Beijing visit — the first by an American secretary of state in six years — during which he is expected to meet with President Xi Jinping. Do the sources know the information? Like American spy satellites, the Chinese satellites can take pictures and monitor weapons launches, officials said. The decision to publicize the discovery appears to put China on notice ahead of Mr.

The US is tracking a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that has been spotted flying over sensitive sites in recent days. Defence officials said they ...

It will be the first visit to the country by a Biden administration cabinet secretary. US media have reported another US official comparing it to the size of three buses. It confused social media users in Montana, with some posting images of a pale round object high in the sky. Top military leaders, including Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and General Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, met on Wednesday to assess the threat. Canada said on Friday that it was monitoring "a potential second incident" involving a surveillance balloon, but did not say which country could be behind it. It was most recently seen above the western state of Montana.

The Pentagon said Thursday that it has "very high confidence" that the high-altitude surveillance balloon came from China and is being used to collect ...

"The U.S. But, he said, the U.S. as the situation develops. A senior defense official told reporters Thursday that the U.S. "We shouldn't let this thing be floating above our ICBM fields, or really over the U.S. officials said Thursday that the U.S. had been tracking the balloon since it entered U.S. defense officials believe the balloon does not pose a "military or physical threat to people on the ground," as NORAD and U.S. U.S. [Ryan Zinke](https://twitter.com/RyanZinke/status/1621334674176876546?s=20&t=J03TWKqDHXjPPbsQTT_B4A) — are accusing China of provoking the U.S. launched hundreds of balloons to gather intelligence on China and the Soviet Union, after tracking east from Montana, and reiterated that it poses no threat to people on the ground.

A large Chinese spy balloon has been detected high above the continental United States, according to the Pentagon.

to collect information," the official added. Our best assessment right now is that it does not," the official said. of the debris falling and hurting somebody or damaging property that it wasn't worth it." "Clearly, they're trying to fly... Our assessment is it does not. The senior Pentagon official said the United States had "very high confidence" that it is a Chinese balloon.

Pentagon says there is no evidence of any nuclear or radioactive material on board the balloon, which is operating at around 60000ft.

[Alaska](https://news.sky.com/topic/alaska-5714), and through [Canada](https://news.sky.com/topic/canada-6330) before entering the US. US defence secretary Lloyd Austin convened a meeting of senior military and defence leaders to review the threat profile of the balloon and possible responses, which were presented to US President [Beijing](https://news.sky.com/topic/beijing-9128) admitted the balloon had come from China - but said it was for meteorological and other scientific research. [Montana](https://news.sky.com/topic/montana-5738), on Wednesday, close to one of the US's three nuclear missile silo fields at Malmstrom Air Force Base - was a Chinese balloon flying over sensitive sites to collect information. [Chinese](https://news.sky.com/topic/china-5869) claims that the balloon was in fact a "civilian airship" that had strayed into American airspace. [Future Wars: Could there ever be a conflict between the US and China?](https://news.sky.com/video/future-wars-could-there-ever-be-a-conflict-between-the-us-and-china-12680957)

Canceling U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken long-planned trip underscores how seriously the White House views the incident.

The statement did not make clear whether it was the same balloon that the U.S. “It is appearing to hang out for a longer period of time, this time around.” The Canadian Department of National Defense said late Thursday it had also detected a high-altitude surveillance balloon that was being “actively tracked” by NORAD, which is a military organization that draws on intelligence from the U.S. Despite the public disclosures, U.S. In the end, following recommendations of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley and General Glen VanHerck, commander of U.S. “It’s happened a handful of other times over the past few years, to include before this administration,” a senior defense official said on Thursday. “The Chinese side regrets the unintended entry of the airship into US airspace due to force majeure. “It is a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes,” the ministry said, adding that the slow-moving, unmanned, white balloon had limited ability to course-correct its flightpath. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy demanded a briefing for the “Gang of Eight,” a colloquial term for the Republican and Democrat Congressional leaders who are informed on classified intelligence matters from the executive branch. The state is home to Malmstrom Air Force Base, one of three bases that host nuclear-tipped Intercontinental ballistic missile fields. “I can tell you that the balloon continues to move eastward and is currently over the center of the continental United States,” Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Pat Ryder said Friday. defense officials told reporters the military was tracking its flightpath, which was detected above the Aleutian Islands near Alaska, then through Canada, and ultimately into the United States.

China says a suspected spy balloon is actually a wayward "civilian airship" used for weather monitoring.

It will be the first visit to the country by a Biden administration cabinet secretary. "I thought maybe it was a legitimate UFO," he said. "The Chinese side regrets the unintended entry of the airship into US airspace due to force majeure."

Montana balloon crisis sounds a lot less dramatic than its Cuban-missile counterpart, and not just because the Chinese surveillance balloon spotted over Big ...

[conciliatory statement](https://www.npr.org/2023/02/03/1154114264/chinese-spy-balloon-us-pentagon-china) that it “regrets the unintended entry of the airship into U.S. The balloon is not a nuisance to either commercial airlines or U.S. By exposing the balloon’s existence, the administration has put pressure on China to de-escalate the issue. One definition of crisis is a disruption that affords little time to respond before it turns into a disaster. airspace.” Secretary of State Antony Blinken has now [postponed](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-02-03/us-to-postpone-blinken-s-visit-to-china-over-its-spy-balloon) his expected visit to China next week. Protections on the ground can deny the Chinese surveillance access to whatever it is they are interested in. Although the balloon lingers somewhere above where passenger jets normally fly, it is in American airspace—which is to say, the American homeland. Emergency management, then, presents two basic choices: Either prevent the disruption or buy yourself more time to minimize its consequences. [armchair analysts and GOP politicians](https://newrepublic.com/post/170391/republicans-response-reported-chinese-spy-balloon) insisting that President Joe Biden was weak in the face of a clearly aggressive action by the Chinese. [Chinese government denies](https://www.euronews.com/2023/02/03/suspected-chinese-spy-balloon-spotted-over-western-us) that it is collecting intelligence. goal is to make China stop doing that while avoiding harm to Americans. Blowing up an adversary’s airborne surveillance equipment over Montana, or even scrambling to capture it, involves different logistical and legal calculations than doing so in an active theater of war.

WASHINGTON — American military officials on Thursday said they had detected a “high-altitude surveillance balloon” launched by China floating in the skies ...

Haass, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations. It is a big enough deal for the State Department to cancel Mr. “The main purpose of the trip was to put some guardrails on the relationship. [said the statement](https://www.mfa.gov.cn/eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/202302/t20230203_11019484.html) on the ministry’s website. The Chinese side regrets the unintended entry of the airship into U.S. “China’s brazen disregard for U.S. Others called for more forceful action. Biden had been briefed and had asked to review military options. WASHINGTON — American military officials on Thursday said they had detected a “high-altitude surveillance balloon” launched by China floating in the skies of Montana, causing a diplomatic panic that led Secretary of State Antony J. “Affected by the Westerlies and with limited self-steering capability, the airship deviated far from its planned course. [is expanding its presence in the Philippines](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/01/world/asia/philippines-united-states-military-bases.html?action=click&pgtype=Article&state=default&module=styln-us-china&variant=show®ion=MAIN_CONTENT_1&block=storyline_top_links_recirc), a sign that the United States is positioning itself to [constrain China’s armed forces](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/02/us/politics/us-china-philippines.html?action=click&pgtype=Article&state=default&module=styln-us-china&variant=show®ion=MAIN_CONTENT_1&block=storyline_top_links_recirc)and bolstering [its ability to defend Taiwan](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/02/world/asia/us-philippines-military.html?action=click&pgtype=Article&state=default&module=styln-us-china&variant=show®ion=MAIN_CONTENT_1&block=storyline_top_links_recirc). [Beijing has the edge](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/01/world/asia/indonesia-china-united-states.html?action=click&pgtype=Article&state=default&module=styln-us-china&variant=show®ion=MAIN_CONTENT_1&block=storyline_top_links_recirc).

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is postponing a visit to China - that had been expected to start today - after a Chinese balloon was tracked flying ...

The last visit by a US secretary of state was in 2017. The United States took "custody" of the balloon when it entered US airspace and had observed it with piloted military aircraft, one US official said. on his Truth Social media platform. In a statement today, China's foreign ministry said the balloon was for civilian meteorological and other scientific purposes and that it regretted that the airship had strayed into US airspace. White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden was briefed on the balloon flight on Tuesday and there was an administration "consensus that it was not appropriate to travel to the People's Republic of China at this time." US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has told a top Chinese official that it was "irresponsible" of Beijing to send a surveillance balloon over US soil as he explained why he postponed a visit to China.

A suspected Chinese spy balloon hovering over the U.S. passed over northeast Kansas on Friday afternoon, according to Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) ...

[ was sent for surveillance](https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2023/02/03/its-a-spy-balloon-defense-secretary-says-disputing-chinas-civilian-airship-claim/?sh=455c0e6b1e8a), but they have chosen not to shoot it down since the debris field might cause “civilian injuries or deaths or significant property damage.” Beijing on Friday acknowledged the balloon originated in China, but claimed it is simply a “civilian airship” that was somehow blown thousands of miles off course—an assertion the Biden Administration has dismissed. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday the balloon does not pose a “military threat” to the U.S. [Suspected Chinese Spy Balloon Hovering Over U.S., Pentagon Says](https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2023/02/02/chinese-spy-balloon-hovering-over-us-pentagon-says/?sh=52de626439ac) (Forbes) [It’s A Spy Balloon, Defense Secretary Says, Disputing China’s ‘Civilian Airship’ Claim](https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2023/02/03/its-a-spy-balloon-defense-secretary-says-disputing-chinas-civilian-airship-claim/?sh=455c0e6b1e8a) (Forbes) [Blinken Postpones China Visit After Spy Balloon](https://www.forbes.com/sites/anafaguy/2023/02/03/blinken-postpones-china-visit-after-spy-balloon/?sh=1d5b9b703e65) (Forbes) Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), as defense officials remain tight-lipped about where they believe the balloon might travel to next. If the balloon is drifting on its own it should move near St. 60,000 feet.

A popular military tool during the Cold War, spy balloons have since fallen out of favor—for good reason.

The senior DOD official noted that the balloon is big enough to cause a potentially dangerous debris field if the US shot down the balloon over an inhabited area. Brigadier General Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said on Thursday that, "instances of this kind of balloon activity have been observed previously over the past several years. A senior US Department of Defense official [told reporters](https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/3287204/senior-defense-official-holds-a-background-briefing-on-high-altitude-surveillan/) on Thursday, though, that “clearly the intent of this balloon is for surveillance.” US officials said on Thursday that the spy balloon was floating above commercial air traffic at roughly 60,000 feet and that it does not pose a threat to people or activity on the ground. “You may have noticed that this balloon has caused a massive international incident, and it’s got everyone looking at China and demanding that the US government do something. And unlike satellites, which are out of sight and out of mind for people on Earth, the situation currently playing out with the Chinese balloon illustrates the biggest limitation of surveillance balloons.

Scientific American is the essential guide to the most awe-inspiring advances in science and technology, explaining how they change our understanding of the ...

One is that you can’t steer it, really, and it only passes over the place that you’re looking at—if you even get lucky and are able to place it correctly—once. So yes, if you want a balloon to end up in a certain place, you can strategically choose where you launch it from and you can have some reasonable degree of control [over where] it’s going to end up. How visible it would be would depend on how big it is, what it’s made of and also the detection technology being employed to track it. China already has capabilities like satellites, and they didn’t seem to think the balloon was going to be dramatically different. and that was flying in the U.S. If it’s a weather balloon, then it would be equipped with sensors to measure things like temperature, and so on. We know this is a Chinese balloon and that it has the ability to maneuver.” And so the only control that a balloon has is: in some balloons, you can control the altitude—you can make it go higher or lower. And that can give you some measure of control—but not anywhere near the level of control that you have [with an airplane]. To the extent that the wind speed and direction varies with altitude, you can change the altitude, within some limits. It adds some more complexity to the whole thing.” In addition to its maneuverability, the surveillance balloon differs from a typical weather balloon in other ways, On Friday the Pentagon’s press secretary said that the balloon is now over the central U.S.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has postponed his upcoming trip to China in response to the flying of a suspected Chinese spy balloon over the United ...

He also said that what makes this surveillance balloon different from other similar balloon activity in the past is the “duration and the length of which it has been over US territory.” It is also not the first time a surveillance balloon has appeared over the United States. The US official said there were similar incidents with suspected Chinese surveillance balloons over Hawaii and Guam in recent years. Ryder added on Friday that the balloon “has changed its course which, again, is why we’re monitoring it.” He added that the US military will not get into “hour-by-hour” updates on the location, but said the public can look up and see it. The balloon is assessed to have “limited additive value” from an intelligence collection perspective, the official added. Earlier this week, the State Department summoned China’s charge d’affaires in Washington, Xu Xueyuan, “to deliver a very clear and stark message” regarding the discovery of the spy balloon, a second US official told CNN. A US military official said the incident is serious because of the “audacity” of the Chinese government, rather than any intelligence gain. We also engaged our close allies and partners to inform them of the presence of the surveillance balloon in our airspace.” The balloon was spotted in Missouri on Friday and is moving toward the East Coast. The Chinese foreign ministry claimed Friday that the balloon spotted over the US was a “civilian airship” used mainly for weather research that deviated from its planned course. The Chinese side regrets the unintended entry of the airship into US airspace due to force majeure,” the Chinese foreign ministry said.

Secretary of state calls the incident in US airspace a 'clear violation of US sovereignty and international law'

Under the deal, the US will have additional access to Philippine bases for joint training, storing equipment and supplies, and building facilities, though not to establish a permanent presence. The airship deviated far from its planned course.” “We now assess it is another Chinese surveillance balloon.” The Pentagon expected the balloon to continue travelling over US airspace for a few more days, a spokesperson said. It is a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes … [postponed a visit to China](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/03/china-spy-balloon-secretary-of-state-trip-postponed) after the intrusion of a separate high-altitude Chinese balloon into US airspace.

A suspected Chinese surveillance balloon in the skies over the continental United States has sparked national security and diplomatic concerns, adding to ...

“We now assess it is another Chinese surveillance balloon.” “It is a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes. One of the officials said it could exit the East Coast on Saturday. But that’s not to say that it couldn’t be [State Department official said](https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/03/politics/china-us-balloon-intl/index.html) that the US has acknowledged China’s “statement of regret” but that the presence of the balloon in US airspace was “a clear violation of our sovereignty as well as international law, and it is unacceptable that this has occurred.” [plans to hold a hearing](https://www.tester.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/tester-announces-defense-hearing-on-chinese-spy-balloon/) on the balloon and how it was able to violate US airspace. It is unclear exactly where over Latin America the balloon is, but a US official told CNN it does not appear that balloon is currently heading to the United States. Affected by the Westerlies and with limited self-steering capability, the airship deviated far from its planned course. [shot down eventually](https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/03/politics/us-monitoring-chinese-balloon/index.html); a senior defense official said Thursday that the US has “options to deal with this balloon” if the risk assessment changes. [had advised Biden](https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/02/politics/us-tracking-china-spy-balloon/index.html) not to shoot the balloon down due to fear over the debris posing a safety threat. [postpone his highly anticipated trip](https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/03/politics/china-us-balloon-intl/index.html) to China, saying Friday that the high-altitude Chinese balloon entering US airspace “created the conditions that undermine the purpose of the trip.” Pat Ryder has flatly denied the Chinese government’s claim that the balloon serves a civilian research purpose, saying that the US knows it is a “surveillance balloon.”

A Chinese spy balloon has been spotted over Latin America, the Pentagon has said, a day after a similar craft was seen in US skies, prompting the scrapping ...

That's what we're focused on," Mr Blinken told reporters. "It is the United States' own decision to release the relevant information and we respect that." Mr Blinken said, however, that he told Mr Wang "the United States is committed to diplomatic engagement with China and that I plan to visit Beijing when conditions allow."