China

The Guardian reports: India has overtaken China as the world’s most populous country, according to UN population estimates, the most significant shift in global demographics since records began. According to the UN’s projections, which are calculated through a variety of factors including census data and birth and death rates, India now has a population of 1,425,775,850, surpassing China for the …

Politico reports: China won’t be happy, but that is kind of the point. The relationship between China and the U.S. is delicate, fraught and has become increasingly agitated in recent years. Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is meeting today with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, a move that has enraged the Chinese government, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory. The …

The Associated Press reports: A former Idaho legislative intern is suing a lawmaker who was convicted of raping her and one of his colleagues for publicly releasing the teen’s identity and launching a campaign of harassment against her. The young woman, who uses the pseudonym “Jane Doe” in the federal lawsuit, was just 19 when she reported that then-Rep. Aaron …

Axios reports: China’s Foreign Ministry claimed on Tuesday that the country has been “open and transparent” about its efforts to trace the origins of COVID-19 and accused the U.S. of politicizing the issue. The U.S. Department of Energy concluded in a “low confidence” assessment that the pandemic most likely started from a laboratory leak. China has repeatedly dismissed the lab …

ABC News reports: A close-up photo of the Chinese spy balloon, taken mid-air from a U-2 spy plane, has been released by the U.S. military The photo was taken on Friday, Feb. 3 as the balloon flew over the American Midwest at an altitude of 60,000 feet — as the U-2 spy plane trailed it flew across the continental United …

The Wall Street Journal reports: A small circle of intelligence officials at the Pentagon during the Trump administration monitored a series of mysterious objects—now suspected to be balloons—but the incidents were never reported to the White House because it wasn’t clear what they were, former U.S. officials said. Following the shootdown earlier this month of a Chinese high-altitude balloon, the …

The Associated Press reports: China said Wednesday it will take measures against U.S. entities related to the downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the American East Coast. At a daily briefing, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin gave no details and did not identify the targets of the measures. China says the balloon was a unmanned weather airship that …

The Hill reports: The United States is warning it will stand with and defend the Philippines after reports that Beijing’s Coast Guard used laser devices to temporarily blind the crew of a Philippine Coast Guard ship, according to the State Department. State Department spokesperson Ned Price called China’s conduct “provocative and unsafe” and said it interfered with the Philippines’ “lawful …

Reuters reports: The U.S. military said on Monday it had recovered critical electronics from the suspected Chinese spy balloon downed by a U.S. fighter jet off South Carolina’s coast on Feb. 4, including key sensors presumably used for intelligence gathering. “Crews have been able to recover significant debris from the site, including all of the priority sensor and electronics pieces …

PBS reports: White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre holds a news briefing on Monday with National Security Council spokesman John Kirby after 3 more unidentified flying objects were shot down over the weekend. A U.S. fighter jet shot down an “unidentified object” over Lake Huron on Sunday on orders from President Joe Biden. It was the fourth such downing in …

The Washington Examiner reports: A senior U.S. official denied China’s accusations that the United States flew multiple balloons into its airspace over the past year. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby rejected the allegation and revealed that the U.S. has communicated with Chinese leaders in “private settings” about the balloon incidents. “Not true. Not doing it. Just absolutely …

Honolulu’s NBC affiliate reports: Astronomers say a Chinese satellite has been caught on video beaming down green lasers over the Hawaiian Islands. A National Astronomical Observatory of Japan livestream camera atop the Subaru Telescope on Mauna Kea recorded the footage in late January. The lasers flashed for just a couple of seconds and were initially thought to be from a …

Bloomberg News reports: US balloons illegally flew over China more than 10 times since the beginning of 2022, according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin. “It is nothing rare for US balloons to illegally enter other country’s airspace,” Wang told reporters at a regular briefing in Beijing on Monday. “The US needs to reflect upon itself and change its wrong …

The Hill reports: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on Sunday the U.S. believes objects that were shot down over American and Canadian territory over the past few days were balloons, citing a briefing by President Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan. Schumer said the administration believes the objects were “much smaller” than the suspected Chinese spy balloon shot …

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 …