Chinese spy balloon update: China rages over Biden’s SOTU as US briefs 40 nations about shot down balloon
Watch: The Moment Chinese ‘Spy Balloon’ Crashes Over Carolina
Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Subscribe to our free US Evening Headlines email
China has reacted with fury to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, in which he referred to the Chinese spy balloon that crashed over the Atlantic on Saturday.
During a speech on Tuesday night, Mr Biden said the US wanted to “seek competition, not conflict” with China, but warned that “if China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to defend our country”.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning hit back at his comments at a daily briefing on Wednesday, accusing the US of trying to “tarnish” the nation.
The tensions come after it was revealed that the US had briefed 40 countries on the intelligence the Pentagon has so far gathered about China’s surveillance balloons.
A senior administration official and diplomats said Tuesday that US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman briefed almost 150 foreign diplomats at 40 embassies on Monday about the balloon that entered US airspace in late January. A conference with foreign diplomats was also held at the American Embassy in Beijing.
The first images from the US Navy’s operation to recover debris from the downed balloon at the weekend were also released, showing parts of the vessel being pulled from the Atlantic Ocean.
Highlights Show Latest Update 1675858500ICYMI: New details reveal how China’s ‘spy’ balloons flew over Hawaii and Florida under Trump watch
A US military document not in the public domain has revealed how China allegedly used large balloons to traverse parts of the world.
The report, dated April 2022 and partially accessed by CNN, stated damning stories of how Chinese balloons “circled the globe” in 2019.
Trump administration officials have denied that such incidents took place or suggested that the Pentagon either deliberately withheld that information or failed to disclose it.
Rachel Sharp February 8, 2023 12:15 p.m
1675856756Biden says US won’t let China ‘threaten our sovereignty’ at SOTU
US President Joe Biden has said he will act to defend his country’s “sovereignty” after it shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon over the weekend.
In his State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday evening, Biden said he wanted “competition, not conflict” with China, but struck a belligerent tone to any violation of US airspace.
“Before I came into office, the story was how the People’s Republic of China was growing its power and America was failing the world. Not anymore,” Mr. Biden told the assembled lawmakers.
Read the full story here:
Rachel Sharp February 8, 2023 11:45 am
1675854956 US informs 40 nations of Chinese spy balloons
The US has briefed 40 countries on the intelligence the Pentagon has gathered so far about China’s surveillance balloons.
On Monday, US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman briefed almost 150 foreign diplomats across 40 embassies about the balloon that entered US airspace in late January, according to a senior administration official.
“We want to make sure we’re sharing as much as we can with countries around the world that may also be susceptible to these types of operations,” they said of the meeting.
On Monday and Tuesday, informative meetings with foreign diplomats were also held at the US Embassy in Beijing.
Diplomats who attended told Reuters that US officials presented information indicating the balloon was controlled by the People’s Liberation Army and used for US spying – undermining Beijing’s claim that it was a weather balloon that had blown off course.
Rachel Sharp February 8, 2023 11:15 am
1675852985 China accuses Biden of ‘tarnishing’ nation at SOTU
China has reacted with fury to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, in which he referred to the Chinese spy balloon that crashed over the Atlantic on Saturday.
During a speech on Tuesday night, Mr Biden said the US wanted to “seek competition, not conflict” with China, but warned that “if China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to defend our country”.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning hit back at his comments at a daily briefing on Wednesday, accusing the US of trying to “tarnish” the nation.
“It is not the practice of a responsible country to smear a country or limit the country’s legitimate development rights under the pretext of competition, even at the expense of disrupting the global industrial and supply chain,” she said.
She added that the US should work with China to “promote the return of bilateral relations to the path of sound and sustainable development.”
Rachel Sharp February 8, 2023 10:43 am
1675850400ICYMI: First images of Chinese spy balloon debris recovered from Atlantic Ocean released by US Navy
New images released by the US Navy show the wreckage of a destroyed Chinese spy balloon being pulled from the water in the Atlantic Ocean.
The photos are dated February 5, a day after the balloon was shot down by a US Air Force F-22 Raptor.
The images are the first close-up look at what Pentagon officials described as a “high-altitude observation balloon” that was discovered traveling over sensitive US military sites last week.
Alex Woodward February 8, 2023 10:00 am
1675846800’Make no mistake, the Chinese spy balloon incident cannot be ignored’
Skylar Baker-Jordan writes for The Independent’s Voices:
This is not just a rivalry between two nations, but two competing ideologies – that of a free and open society, the chains of a repressive and closed state. It is not even the communist capitalist verses, or the left verses as Americans are used to think. It is freedom verses tyranny, democracy verses autocracy.
Alex Woodward February 8, 2023 9:00 am
1675843200 Spy balloon videos dominated TikTok. Why didn’t China stop them?
Republicans have wrapped the balloon of Chinese surveillance in GOP talking points targeting the popular social media app TikTok, national security and the Biden administration’s relationship with China.
TikTok appeared to be directing users to the hashtag #chinesespyballoon even though the Chinese Communist Party still insisted it was a faulty weather balloon.
Spokeswoman Brooke Oberwetter dismissed claims that the app was in any way comparable to the surveillance balloon in a statement to The Independent.
“There is absolutely no connection between these two things. Anyone who suggests such a thing should not be taken seriously as a matter of national security.”
Alex Woodward February 8, 2023 8:00 am
1675839600 How the Chinese spy balloon was caught
On Monday, US officials said improvements ordered by President Joe Biden to strengthen defenses against Chinese espionage helped identify last week’s spy balloon — and determined that similar flights were conducted at several points during the Trump administration.
The Associated Press reports:
How the Chinese spy balloon was caught
U.S. officials say efforts ordered by President Joe Biden to strengthen defenses against Chinese espionage helped identify last week’s spy balloon — and determined that similar flights took place at several points during the Trump administration.
Alex Woodward February 8, 2023 7:00 am
1675828848ICYMI: White House explains how China spent years developing surveillance program
The suspected Chinese spy plane that was shot down by a US F-22 fighter jet on Saturday was targeting “sensitive military locations” as part of a program that has been known to US officials for several years, the White House has said.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters during a briefing Monday that China’s claim that the airship was a civilian vessel sent for climate study purposes “strains credibility” and said U.S. officials knew the military Chinese had “a measure of control”. ” on the speed and direction of the balloon, which was observing “sensitive military sites” in the US.
Kirby said China’s use of balloons for espionage was not “a new program” and instead is something “they’ve been working on for many years” that China “has been trying to improve in terms of capabilities, range”. [and] communications”.
The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg reports from Washington:
Alex Woodward February 8, 2023 4:00 am
1675821648No, US can’t ‘take’ the balloon out of the air, says congressman
Newt Gingrich claimed the US had “plenty of capacity” to “remove” the balloon from US airspace before it crashed on Saturday, something he said the US does “all the time”.
US Representative Ted Lieu, who was an active duty member of the US Air Force, disputed the claims.
“Having served on active duty, I know for a fact that the U.S. does not have a balloon flight,” he said. “Newt Gingrich, who never served in the military, has no idea what he’s talking about. Also, unlike the Trump administration, the Biden administration deflated the CCP balloon.
Alex Woodward February 8, 2023 02:00 am
