According to a senior State Department official, the Biden administration assessed that the alleged Chinese surveillance balloon, which was shot down by US jets on Saturday, was using electronic surveillance technology capable of monitoring US communications.
The balloon was part of a fleet that has flown over “more than 40 countries across five continents” and was “capable of performing signals intelligence collection activities.” According to the official, it was “part of a PRC (People’s Republic of China) fleet of balloons developed to undertake surveillance activities,” with a manufacturer linked to China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
The official suggested that the US is considering sanctions for the balloon’s presence in US airspace, which US officials have repeatedly described as a violation of US sovereignty and international law, adding that the US “will also consider taking action against PRC entities linked to the PLA that supported the balloon’s incursion into US airspace.”
“We know the PRC utilised these balloons for spying,” stated an official. “High resolution pictures from U-2 flybys demonstrated that the high-altitude balloon could undertake signal intelligence collection activities.”
Signal intelligence refers to information obtained using electronic means, such as communications and radars.
“The high-altitude balloons’ equipment was plainly for intelligence surveillance and contradictory with the equipment onboard weather balloons. It had a number of antennae, including an array capable of gathering and geolocating communications. It was outfitted with solar panels powerful enough to power numerous active intelligence collection sensors,” the official stated.
The recovery operation to collect the balloon’s trash is ongoing, with research continuing at an FBI laboratory in Virginia, but the officials’ comments suggest the US has already proven the balloon was using electronic surveillance technology.
The US, on the other hand, claims to have prevented the balloon from intercepting US communications.
“We could track the exact flight of the balloon and verify no important unencrypted communications were performed in its area,” a senior administration official said last week. “The US military took quick precautions to prevent the balloon from collecting critical information, reducing any intelligence value to the PRC.”
President Joe Biden suggested on Wednesday that the balloon incident had had no impact on bilateral relations with China, but China reacted angrily to the shootdown, refusing a call with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken cancelled a high-stakes trip to Beijing on Friday. New sanctions in reaction to the balloon would almost certainly exacerbate relations.
“We know these balloons are all part of a PRC fleet of surveillance balloons. “These kinds of activities are frequently carried out under the leadership of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA),” said the senior State Department official.
“We are confident that the balloon manufacturer has a direct relationship with China’s military and is an approved vendor of the PLA,” the official added, noting that the “company also advertises balloon products on its website and hosts videos from past flights, which appear to have overflown at least US airspace and airspace of other countries.”
“These promoted balloon movies appear to have similar flying patterns as the balloons we discussed this week,” they stated.
The person stated that China “has overflowed these surveillance balloons over more than 40 countries over five continents,” and that “the Biden Administration is reaching out to countries directly about the breadth of this programme and answering any queries.”
“We will also consider broader actions to uncover and address the PRC’s greater surveillance activities that endanger our national security as well as the security of our friends and partners,” they stated.
Based on China’s “message and public comments,” the person stated, “it’s evident that they have been scrambling to justify why they violated US sovereignty and still have no convincing answer – and have found themselves on their heels.”
“As we saw with the second balloon that they recently admitted over Central and South America, they too have no explanation for why they violated the airspace of Central and South American countries,” they stated. “The PRC’s programme will simply be revealed more, making it more difficult for the PRC to use this programme.”
