Chinese spy balloon did not collect data when it flew over U.S.: Pentagon – National | 24CA News
The Pentagon has assessed the suspected Chinese spy balloon that flew over Canada and the mainland United States early this yr didn’t gather any info throughout its voyage, the U.S. Defense Department’s spokesperson mentioned Thursday.
Press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder advised reporters that though the balloon had “information collection capabilities” that would have additionally transmitted delicate supplies to Beijing, it seems no information was really gathered.
“It has been our assessment now that it did not collect (information) while it was transiting the United States,” he advised reporters.
At the time the balloon was flying over the mainland U.S., Pentagon officers took steps to guard delicate info from being considered or captured by the balloon.
“We believe that it did not collect while it was transiting the United States or flying over the United States, and certainly the efforts we made contributed (to that),” Ryder added.
The balloon entered North American airspace in late January, flying throughout Alaska after which over Yukon and central British Columbia earlier than crossing into the mainland U.S. in early February.
It then transited throughout a number of states earlier than U.S. President Joe Biden ordered army jets to shoot the balloon down off the coast of the Carolinas on Feb. 4. Debris was then collected and analysed by U.S. companies, together with the Pentagon and the CIA, to find out if any information was collected or transmitted to China.
The Canadian authorities, which additionally took steps to guard delicate info, has not mentioned if any information was gathered when the balloon flew over western Canada, referring to the U.S.-led investigation. Global News has reached out to the Department of National Defence for touch upon the Pentagon’s newest evaluation.
Earlier this yr, U.S. media studies claimed China was in a position to gather real-time information from the spy balloon because it flew over delicate army websites. Both NBC News and CNN cited present and former U.S. officers.
At the time, the White House and the Pentagon mentioned they may not affirm these studies, pointing to the evaluation that was nonetheless underway.
The Pentagon’s evaluation Thursday got here in response to new studies from the Wall Street Journal and ABC News that the Chinese spy balloon was constructed with not less than some American-made off-the-shelf elements, elevating questions on how these elements have been obtained.
Ryder didn’t affirm the studies however did say that the Pentagon is “aware in previous cases — for example, things like drones and other capabilities, what have you — where off-the-shelf commercial U.S. components have been used in capabilities.”
“So that in and of itself is not surprising,” he added when requested concerning the studies.
The Chinese spy balloon incident prompted NORAD to intently scrutinize North American airspace for indicators of different international airborne objects. That led army jets to shoot down three extra unidentified objects: one over Alaska on Feb. 10, one other over Yukon on Feb. 11, and a 3rd over Lake Huron on Feb. 12.
U.S. intelligence companies consider the three objects didn’t come from China or are tied to every other international surveillance operation, and are almost certainly “benign” personal business or analysis balloons. Search operations for all three objects have been referred to as off on account of troublesome climate situations.
As for the balloon shot down Feb. 4, China denied the balloon had intelligence-gathering capabilities, calling it a benign climate balloon.
Yet the incident additional soured relations between Washington and Beijing, with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken delaying a deliberate journey to China in February that was aimed toward resetting the more and more acrimonious relationship between the 2 superpowers.
Blinken finally made the journey earlier this month, which was rapidly overshadowed when Biden referred to as Chinese President Xi Jinping a “dictator,” angering Beijing simply after Blinken’s journey concluded on comparatively good phrases.
Biden introduced up the balloon incident throughout these remarks, which have been made at a 2024 re-election fundraiser.
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