SENIOR U.S. military and national security officials confirmed Wednesday that the Chinese spy balloon shot down off South Carolina’s coastline over the weekend was tied to a major surveillance program run by China’s military.
The program has been largely run out of China’s Hainan Island province off its southeast coastline in the South China Sea by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). It has been known to operate over regional neighbors like Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines and India, The Washington Post first reported.
But these surveillance balloons, used to collect military intelligence from nations that are of strategic interest to Beijing, have also emerged over the U.S. before.
Another Chinese spy balloon was discovered four months ago after it crashed into the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii, Fox News confirmed earlier this week. Another three Chinese surveillance balloons were found to have flown over Texas, Florida and Guam during the Trump administration.
Department of Defense press secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder told reporters Wednesday the U.S. had been tracking China’s surveillance practices before the latest balloon arrived stateside last week.
“We are now learning more about the scale of this Chinese balloon surveillance program, which U.S. intelligence and the Pentagon have been observing for several years,” he said. “Our awareness and understanding of this capability has increased.”
It is unclear how long Beijing has been operating the espionage program that relies on dated balloon technology along with modern surveillance techniques. Spy balloons have been spotted over five continents since 2018.
“When you look at the scope of this program — operating over at least five continents in regions like Latin America, South America, Southeast Asia, East Asia and Europe — again, it demonstrates why, for the Department of Defense, that China remains the pacing challenge and something that we’ll continue to stay focused on,” Ryder added.