A suspected Chinese spy balloon, which was recently shot down after it entered US airspace, is part of a massive surveillance programme by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the Washington Post has reported.
The Report
According to the report, senior US officials confirmed that China’s spy balloon programme has been in operation for years and its base is in the Hainan province, off China’s south coast.
Officials say the programme “has collected information on military assets in countries and areas of emerging strategic interest to China including Japan, India, Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines.”
Furthermore, the report notes that the balloons are operated, in part, by the PLA Air Force, and have been spotted on five continents.
An official said that China has taken an “unbelievably old technology [and] married it with modern communications and observation capabilities” to try to collect information.
US Briefed Over 40 Countries
Officials told Reuters that the US on Monday briefed envoys from over 40 countries regarding the Chinese balloon.
“We want to make sure that we are sharing as much as we can with countries around the world who may also be susceptible to these types of operations,” a source said.
“Balloon-Gate”
Last week, the US detected a large balloon hovering over its airspace. It was immediately identified as a Chinese spy balloon and shot down by a US warplane days later.
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While Beijing quickly accepted that the balloon was Chinese, officials denied claims that it was used for spying, instead saying it was a weather device.
China also condemned the US decision to shoot down the balloon, arguing that the move was against international law.