U.S. officials disclosed new details about the Chinese spy balloon's capabilities: Here's what we know
US officials have disclosed new details about the Chinese balloon's capabilities; here's what we know.Biden administration officials disclosed new information Thursday about the capabilities of the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that traversed the United States last week and what they are learning as the FBI begins analyzing the parts recovered after the balloon was shot down Saturday.
"We know the PRC used these balloons for surveillance," the official said. "High-resolution imagery from U-2 flybys revealed that the high-altitude balloon was capable of conducting signals intelligence collection operations." Despite the latest revelations about the capabilities of the spy balloon, the Pentagon has insisted since the vessel was first acknowledged publicly that it does not give China capabilities above and beyond what they already have from spy satellites or other means.
The officials told lawmakers that the US has assessed that little new intelligence was gleaned by the Chinese balloon operation because the Chinese appeared to stop transmitting information once the US learned of the balloon, in addition to US measures to protect sensitive intelligence from China's spying operations, according to the sources.
In the classified congressional briefings, the administration officials argued that the US didn't move earlier to shoot down the balloon in part over fears it could provoke an escalation of military tensions with China or even a military conflict. Biden gave the order to shoot down the balloon whenever the Pentagon felt it was safe to do so, the sources said, so the Pentagon ultimately made the call on when to shoot it down.
After the briefing, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said it was wrong for the Biden administration to wait to shoot down the balloon. "You guys have to help me understand why this baby wasn't taken out long before and because I am telling you that that this ain't the last time. We've brief incursions, now we've seen a long incursion, what happens next?," said Tester, the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee.
The House on Thursday passed a symbolic resolution condemning China's surveillance balloon with a vote of 419 to zero.The FBI investigation into recovered balloon is the first of its kind in the bureau's history, senior FBI officials familiar with the operation said Thursday as they described the initial stages and what's been recovered so far.
Of the small portion they have examined, analysts have not identified any sort of explosive or "offensive material" that would pose a danger to the American public. The official suggested that the US is eyeing sanctions for the presence of the balloon in US airspace -- which US officials have repeatedly called a violation of US sovereignty and international law -- noting the US "will also explore taking action against PRC entities linked to the PLA that supported the balloon's incursion into US airspace."
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