Tag Archives: espionage

Reuters reports: The Biden administration on Friday added six Chinese entities connected to Beijing’s suspected surveillance balloon program to an export blacklist. The new restrictions come after the White House said it would consider broader efforts to “expose and address” China’s larger surveillance activities that threaten U.S. national security and allies. The Commerce Department said the five companies and one …

The Wall Street Journal reports: The Chinese balloon that crossed the U.S. was outfitted with antennas likely capable of collecting communications, a senior State Department official said Thursday, adding that the Biden administration is preparing to take action against China’s surveillance program. Providing details the U.S. has gathered since tracking and shooting down the balloon, the official said the balloon …

NBC News reports: U.S. Fleet Forces released new pictures on Tuesday showing sailors assigned to the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 recovering the high-altitude surveillance balloon. Air Force Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, the commander of NORAD Command, provided an update,, stating the debris field that is about 15 football fields long and wide. He said that precautions are being taken …

CNN reports: A US military intelligence report from last year that focused on China’s use of high-altitude balloons mentioned sightings in Hawaii and Florida during the Trump presidency, according to an excerpt of the report reviewed by CNN. The April 2022 report, titled “People’s Republic of China High-Altitude Balloon,” found a Chinese spy balloon “circumnavigated the globe” in 2019 – …

Bloomberg News reports: The US sent divers to salvage what they believe is spy equipment from the Chinese balloon shot down off South Carolina, as pressure mounted on President Joe Biden to hit back at Beijing with new export controls on sensitive technology. The government anticipates finding equipment capable of taking detailed photographs, along with other sensors, one person familiar …

The Hill reports: Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng said he formally complained to the U.S. Embassy on Sunday over what he called a “U.S. attack on a Chinese civilian unmanned airship by military force.” China has insisted that the aircraft was a civilian weather balloon blown unintentionally off-course. “However, the United States turned a deaf ear and insisted on indiscriminate …

Politico reports: All U.S. senators will receive a classified briefing about China on Feb. 15, following the Biden administration’s decision to shoot down a Chinese spy balloon off the Carolinas on Saturday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Sunday. The New York Democrat said he hasn’t seen the information from the Defense Department yet, but that briefings usually cover “where …

The South China Morning Post reports: Beijing slammed Washington’s decision to shoot down a Chinese balloon, saying it was an overreaction and China reserved the right to take “further responses that are necessary”. “China strongly disapproves of and protests against the US attack on a civilian unmanned airship by force,” the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement …

CNN reports: The US military has downed the suspected Chinese spy balloon over the Atlantic Ocean, a US official says. The balloon was first spotted in the sky over Montana earlier this week and traveled across the middle of the country following weather patterns before it exited the continental United States on Saturday. Prior to the balloon being shot down, …

The Associated Press reports: The Biden administration is considering a plan to shoot down a large Chinese balloon suspected of conducting surveillance on the U.S. military, by bringing it down once it is above the Atlantic Ocean where the remnants could potentially be recovered, according to four U.S. officials. The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss …

From the spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry: Regarding the unintended entry of a Chinese unmanned airship into US airspace due to force majeure, the Chinese side has verified it and communicated it to the US side. It is a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes. Affected by the Westerlies and with limited self-steering capability, the airship deviated far …

Bloomberg News reports: The Biden administration has decided to postpone Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s upcoming trip to Beijing after detecting a Chinese surveillance balloon that was lingering at high altitude over sensitive nuclear sites in Montana, according two officials. Blinken was set to have meetings in Beijing early next week in the first such visit by a top US …

The Associated Press reports: China said Friday it was looking into reports that a Chinese spy balloon has been flying in U.S. airspace over sensitive sites — a discovery that further strained already tense relations between Beijing and Washington. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said China has “no intention of violating the territory and airspace of any sovereign country” and …

CNN reports: The Pentagon is tracking a suspected Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon over the continental United States, a senior defense official said on Thursday. The Pentagon has been tracking the balloon for several days as it made its way over the northern United States, Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said. He added that the US military decided against shooting …

The Associated Press reports: Former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, who fled prosecution after revealing highly classified surveillance programs, has received a Russian passport and taken the citizenship oath, Russian news agencies quoted his lawyer as saying Friday. Lawyer Anatoly Kucherena was reported as saying that Snowden got the passport and took the oath on Thursday, about three months after …

Reuters reports: Supporters of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange formed a human chain outside Britain’s parliament on Saturday to demand an end to an attempt by the United States to have him extradited to face criminal charges. Hundreds of protesters, including Jeremy Corbyn, the former leader of Britain’s opposition Labour Party, gathered in a line which stretched from parliament’s perimeter railings …

The Associated Press reports: President Vladimir Putin has granted Russian citizenship to former U.S. security contractor Edward Snowden, according to a decree signed by the Russian leader on Monday. Snowden is one of 75 foreign nationals listed by the decree as being granted Russian citizenship. The decree was published on an official government website. Snowden, a former contractor with the …

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports: For a time, Anna de Rothschild boasted of her family roots to the European banking dynasty, donning designer clothes, a Rolex watch, and driving a $170,000 black Mercedes-Benz SUV. She talked about developing a sprawling luxury housing project on Emerald Bay in the Bahamas, a high-rise hotel in Monaco, and a Formula One race track in …

ABC News reports: The Justice Department said in a new court filing Monday that it opposes an effort by multiple media organizations, including ABC News, to unseal the supporting affidavit behind the now-public search warrant for former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. “There remain compelling reasons, including to protect the integrity of an ongoing law enforcement investigation that implicates national …

Axios reports: Less than a week after the FBI’s search of former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) called for the repeal of the Espionage Act on Saturday, saying it was an “egregious affront to the 1st Amendment.” The Department of Justice filed a motion on Thursday to unseal parts of the Mar-a-Lago search warrant. Documents released on …