Tag Archives: China

Pentagon: Michigan Object Was “Metallic Balloon”

CNN reports: The unidentified flying object shot down in Canadian airspace on Saturday appeared to be a “small, metallic balloon with a tethered payload below it,” according to a Pentagon memo sent to lawmakers on Monday and obtained by CNN. The memo offers the first official details of one of the three objects shot down in recent days that was …

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LIVE VIDEO: White House Briefing On Downed Objects

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 …

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US Denies Flying Balloons Into Chinese Airspace

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 …

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Chinese Satellite Beams Lasers On Hawaii [VIDEO]

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 …

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China Accuses US Of Multiple Balloon Overflights

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 …

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US Shoots Down “Unidentified Object” Over Michigan

CNN reports: The US military shot down another high-altitude object over Lake Huron on Sunday afternoon, according to a US official and a congressional source briefed on the matter. The operation marks the third day in a row that an unidentified object was shot down over North American airspace. An unidentified object was shot down over northern Canada on Saturday. …

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Schumer: All Shot Down Objects Were Balloons [Video]

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 …

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US Blacklists Six Chinese Companies Linked To Balloon

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 …

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State Dept: Chinese Balloon Was Collecting Intelligence

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 …

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US Navy Releases Photos From Balloon Recovery Effort

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 …

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US Intel Reported Chinese Balloon Over Florida In 2019

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 – …

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US Sends Navy Divers To Salvage Chinese Balloon

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 …

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China Accuses US Of “Indiscriminate Use Of Force”

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 …

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Schumer: Senators To Get Classified Briefing On Balloon

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 …

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China Condemns “Attack On Civilian Unmanned Airship”

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 …

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Pentagon: There Were Chinese Balloons During Trump

The Insider reports: Senior Pentagon officials said on Saturday that suspected Chinese surveillance balloons crossed into the US at least three times during the Trump administration and once earlier in the Biden administration, the Associated Press reported. The senior defense official who spoke on background also said “a balloon of this nature” crossed over the continental US before the Biden …

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US Military Shoots Down Balloon Over Atlantic Ocean

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, …

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Biden Admin Weighs Plan To Shoot Down Balloon

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 …

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China: Stop “Smearing” Us Over Off-Course Balloon

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 …

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Antony Blinken Postpones China Visit Over Spy Balloon

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 …

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