One senior Biden official added new information to a claim made on Saturday, saying that the three Chinese spy balloons that flew over the continental United States during the Trump administration were “discovered after” the former president left office.
On Saturday, one defense official claimed that, over the course of the Trump administration, three separate spy balloons had crossed the United States, a claim that Trump and a number of his former defense officials contested heavily.
The former president himself claimed to Fox News that it “never happened with us under the Trump administration, and if it did, we would have shot it down immediately.”
On Sunday, however, one senior administration official told the outlet that “U.S. intelligence, not the Biden administration” assesses that “PRC government surveillance balloons transited the continental U.S. briefly at least three times during the prior administration and once that we know of at the beginning of this administration, but never for this duration of time.”
They added that “this information was discovered after the [Trump] administration left,” and that the balloons “went undetected,” explaining that the surveillance balloons are believed to be “part of a larger pattern.”
“These balloons are all part of a PRC fleet of balloons developed to conduct surveillance operations, which have also violated the sovereignty of other countries,” the official explained, adding that these activities are “often undertaken at the direction of the People’s Liberation Army.”
Over the past several years, Chinese balloons have been seen over countries in five continents, in regions of the world such as East and South Asia, Europe and the Americas.
“Two things can be true at once: this happened and it wasn’t detected,” the official said.
China responded with anger to the balloon being shot down, claiming that it was an unmanned civilian aircraft and that it had floated into the region on accident. It had previously made similar claims but provided no evidence to support them.
“China expresses its strong dissatisfaction and protest against the US’s use of force to attack civilian unmanned aircraft,” the statement claimed. “The Chinese side has repeatedly informed the US side after verification that the airship is for civilian use and entered the US due to force majeure – it was completely an accident.”
“China clearly asked the US to handle it properly in a calm, professional and restrained manner. A spokesman for the US Department of Defense also stated that the balloon will not pose a military or personal threat to ground personnel,” the statement continued. “China will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of relevant companies, while reserving the right to make further necessary reaction.”
U.S. officials also said on Sunday that just four months ago, a Chinese spy balloon crashed into the Pacific off the coast of Hawaii, adding that at least one spy balloon flew over portions of Texas and Florida during the Trump administration.
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