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Washington: (AFP)
The White House announced, on Wednesday, that China had launched “in recent years … a fleet of balloons intended for espionage operations” around the world.
White House spokeswoman Karen Jean-Pierre said in a press conference aboard Air Force One, the presidential plane carrying US President Joe Biden to Wisconsin, that “Chinese balloons have been spotted over countries on the five continents,” and the “sovereignty” of these countries has been violated.
On Saturday, Washington shot down a Chinese balloon that was flying over its territory. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States is providing allies with data from the analysis of the wreckage.
“We do this because the United States was not the only target of this broader program that violated the sovereignty of countries on five continents,” he added at a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stollenberg.
Stoltenberg, who is in Washington after a tour of Japan and South Korea, said the balloon showed the need for NATO countries to protect themselves.
And he believed that “the Chinese balloon over the United States confirms a pattern of Chinese behavior through which we see that China, over the past years, has invested heavily in new military capabilities.”
He added, “We have also seen an increase in Chinese espionage activities in Europe. They use satellites, they use the Internet, and as we saw over the United States (they use) balloons as well.”
Stoltenberg again warned that China was drawing lessons from the war in Ukraine.
He said, “What is happening in Europe now, could happen in Asia tomorrow,” referring to the pressure exerted by China on Taiwan.
The Washington Post quoted US officials as saying that the balloons were used to monitor the military assets of neighboring adversaries such as Japan, India and Taiwan.
The Pentagon reported that Chinese balloons flew three times for limited periods of time over US territory during former President Donald Trump’s term, and once at the beginning of Biden’s term for a short period as well.
On the other hand, President Joe Biden announced, on Wednesday, that the United States “does not seek conflict” with China, despite the tension over the shooting down of a Chinese balloon, which American officials described as intended for espionage purposes.
“We will fully compete with China, but (..) we are not seeking conflict, and this is the case so far,” Biden said in a televised interview with PBS, excerpts of which were broadcast.
