(Reuters) -A Chinese balloon that flew across the United States was able to gather intelligence from several U.S. military sites and transmit it back to Beijing in real time, despite the Biden administration’s efforts to prevent it from doing so, NBC News reported on Monday.

The high-altitude balloon, controlled by Beijing, was able to make multiple passes over some of the sites before it was shot down on Feb. 4, at times flying in a figure-eight formation, citing two current senior U.S. officials and one former senior administration official.

The three officials said it could transmit the information it collected back to Beijing in real time, NBC reported.

“The intelligence China collected was mostly from electronic signals, which can be picked up from weapons systems or include communications from base personnel, rather than images,” NBC cited the officials as saying.

White House official John Kirby told reporters on Monday that he could not confirm NBC’s report, but said the U.S. limited the balloon’s “ability to be able to collect anything additive.”

Chinese spy balloon gathered intelligence on US military sites

He added that the U.S. government was able to study and analyze the balloon while it was in U.S. airspace, saying “we gained some useful context.”

The Chinese Foreign Ministry in Beijing and the Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

At the time, U.S. officials played down the balloon’s impact on national security.

The balloon, which Beijing denies was a government spy vessel, spent a week flying over the United States and Canada early in February before the U.S. military shot it down off the Atlantic Coast on President Joe Biden’s orders.

The incident prompted U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to postpone a planned visit to Beijing and further strained relations between Washington and Beijing.

The episode caused an uproar in Washington and led the U.S. military to search the skies for other objects that were not being captured on radar.

The United States said on Feb. 17 it had successfully concluded recovery efforts off South Carolina to collect sensors and other debris from the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon and that investigators would analyze its “guts.”

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu in Washington and Juby Babu in Bengaluru, Editing by Louise Heavens, Bernadette Baum and Jonathan Oatis)

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China’s spy balloon flight program has been launched over five continents

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.

The suspected Chinese spy balloon drifts to the ocean after being shot down off the coast in Surfside Beach, S.C., on Saturday. (REUTERS/Randall Hill)

The majority of the PLA’s surveillance program is conducted through the use of satellites, but Beijing also apparently spotted an opportunity for additional intelligence gathering.

The balloons travel through the upper atmosphere, hovering between 60,000 and 80,000 feet above Earth, above where commercial jets travel.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Wednesday told reporters “these balloons are part of a PRC [People’s Republic of China] fleet of balloons developed to conduct surveillance operations” and said they have “violated the sovereignty” of several nations.

China has tried to write off the surveillance balloon that floated across the U.S. for seven days before being shot down as a weather balloon caught off course.

But U.S. defense officials have dismissed these claims.

U.S. forces haul debris from China’s surveillance balloon onto a boat off the coast of South Carolina. (U.S. Fleet Forces)

National Security Council strategic communications coordinator John Kirby said Monday the U.S. “took steps to mitigate whatever collection capability the balloon would have over our sensitive military sites.”

He also told reporters the U.S. decision not to strike down the balloon until it was safely over the Atlantic “afforded us a terrific opportunity to gain a better understanding to study the capabilities of this balloon.”

Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman on Monday briefed nearly 150 diplomats from 40 embassies across the globe on China’s espionage program.

The U.S. has also begun to share specific details about its findings with allies like Japan, whose military has been directly targeted by Beijing’s efforts.

By Jennifer Griffin , Caitlin McFall | Fox News

U.S. military shoots down Chinese surveillance balloon

U.S. officials say the balloon’s altitude is about 60,000 feet.

The Biden administration is well within its authority to shoot down the Chinese spy balloon that floated over Alaska and was spotted over Montana late this week, according to national security and legal experts.

“We have the absolute legal right to take it down,” said Cully Stimson, a 30-year veteran of the Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps and a senior legal fellow and manager of the National Security Law Program at the Heritage Foundation.

“From a rules-of-engagement standpoint, we have the absolute legal authority under domestic and international law to take this down,” he added. “We’re legally on very, very solid ground.”

Map shows approximate path of a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon over Montana, Friday, Feb. 3, 2023. (Fox News)

Stimson said that domestic authority for the action can be found in various laws of armed conflict and, internationally, in the Geneva Conventions, which are the treaties and protocols that set standards for war and defense of national territory.

Stimson said that U.S. territory includes U.S. airspace up until space is reached, but the balloon is well within U.S. airspace – Pentagon officials say it is at about 60,000 feet.

Bryan Clark, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, says that U.S. airspace goes up to about 100,000 feet and said that other than these sorts of surveillance balloons, no aircraft are usually found above 60,000 feet. Clark said that taking down the balloon would be “legal as long as the balloon is unmanned and is in U.S. airspace.”

James Andrew Lewis, director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Strategic Technologies Program, said that while the exact boundaries for national airspace can get “fuzzy” at high altitudes, the Chinese balloon is well within U.S. airspace.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, was set to meet with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, but that meeting was postponed after the balloon was discovered. (Saudi Press Agency/Handout via REUTERS)

“Things in orbit are outside of sovereign territory,” he said. “Anything under 100,000 feet could be considered fair game.”

While the option to take down the balloon is available, the Pentagon has so far said that it is worried about whether that’s a prudent option. One senior U.S. official said that there is worry about debris landing on residential areas, but also that there are other options for bringing it down “when it is deemed safe to do so.”

Ilan Berman, senior vice president ot the American Foreign Policy Council, said it’s likely that the Biden administration is citing the possibility of debris to avoid causing an incident with China.

“They just don’t want to shoot it down, because they don’t want to provoke the Chinese,” he said.

Victoria Coates, a senior research fellow for international affairs and security at the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, said that China has said that it is building these surveillance balloons and is most likely testing the U.S. to see what kind of reaction it gets with the intrusion.

A balloon flies in the sky over Billings, Montana, in this picture obtained from social media. Chase Doak/via REUTERS

“They rolled this over Alaska and Montana just to see what the response would be,” she said, adding that “we need to make very clear that this is our space.”

“This really tests the bounds of credulity, given their past behavior,” she said.

By Peter Kasperowicz | Fox News

Trump joins calls for Biden admin to ‘shoot down’ suspected Chinese spy balloon

The People’s Republic of China has confirmed the balloon craft floating over Montana is Chinese

Former President Trump has weighed in on the suspected Chinese spy balloon hovering above the northern United States, calling on President Biden and his administration to “shoot” it down.

“SHOOT DOWN THE BALLOON,” Trump wrote in a Friday morning post to Truth Social.

Trump, who announced last November that he would make a third run for the White House in 2024, is not the only one calling for the Biden administration to take immediate action amid tension with China.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who is expected to announce her 2024 presidential bid later this month, also called for aggressive action from the Biden administration.

Former President Trump has weighed in on the suspected Chinese spy balloon hovering above the northern United States, calling on President Biden and his administration to “shoot” it down. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

“Shoot down the balloon. Cancel Blinken’s trip. Hold China accountable,” Haley wrote in a tweet. “Biden is letting China walk all over us. It’s time to make America strong again.”

The Pentagon addressed the suspected surveillance balloon that was detected over Billings, Montana and said Thursday that while they considered taking down the possible threat, they ultimately decided against any action due to “the risk to safety and security of people on the ground from the possible debris field,” according to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

“From the spy balloon to the Chinese Communist Party spying on Americans through TikTok to CCP-linked companies buying American farmland, I’m deeply troubled by the constant stream of alarming developments for our national security,” Gov. Greg Gianforte, R-Mont., wrote in a statement addressing the high priority concern.

The suspicious balloon, reportedly the size of three school buses, is currently being tracked by the U.S. government, but Montana lawmakers do not believe the Biden administration is doing enough to combat the potential threat.

Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., a fifth generation Montanan, demanded there be a “full security briefing from the administration on this situation.”

“Shoot. It. Down. The Chinese spy balloon is clear provocation. In Montana we do not bow. We shoot it down. Take the shot,” Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., a former Navy SEAL, tweeted urgently on Thursday.

A balloon flies in the sky over Billings, Montana, Feb. 1, 2023 in this picture obtained from social media. (Chase Doak/via Reuters)

“The fact that this balloon was occupying Montana airspace creates significant concern that Malmstrom Air Force Base (AFB) and the United States’ intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) fields are the targets of this intelligence gathering mission,” Daines wrote in a letter to Austin amid growing concerns over the balloon.

The People’s Republic of China confirmed Friday that the balloon craft floating over Montana is Chinese.

“The airship is from China. It is a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson confirmed Friday. “Affected by the Westerlies and with limited self-steering capability, the airship deviated far from its planned course.”

The spokesperson said China regrets the incident.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (Saudi Press Agency/Handout via REUTERS)

The statement continued, “The Chinese side regrets the unintended entry of the airship into US airspace due to force majeure. The Chinese side will continue communicating with the US side and properly handle this unexpected situation caused by force majeure.”

Announcing an investigation by China’s government to look into the reports of the balloon, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Friday during a daily briefing that “China is a responsible country and has always strictly abided by international laws, and China has no intention to violate the territory and airspace of any sovereign countries.”

She also urged U.S. officials and Chinese authorities to proceed “calmly and carefully” amid the investigation.

By Kyle Morris | Fox News

The U.S. government says another Chinese spy balloon is traveling over Latin America.

A huge, high-altitude Chinese balloon sailed across the U.S. on Friday, drawing severe Pentagon accusations of spying despite China’s firm denials. Secretary of State Antony Blinken abruptly canceled a high-stakes Beijing trip aimed at easing U..S.-China tensions.

CHICAGO – The U.S. government says another Chinese spy balloon is traveling over Latin America.

“We are seeing reports of a balloon transiting Latin America,” Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, a Pentagon spokesperson, told Fox News Friday night. “We now assess it is another Chinese surveillance balloon.”

Ryder said during a briefing Thursday the U.S. government detected a high-altitude surveillance balloon over the continental U.S.

A senior defense official said during the briefing the U.S. government is “confident” the surveillance balloon is from the People’s Republic of China.

The balloon was recently over Montana, and the official said the government considered shooting it down but decided against using military force because of the potential risks.

When President Biden was briefed on the situation, he asked for military options, the official said.

“You did see reports yesterday of a ground stop at Billings Airport and the mobilization of a number of assets, including F-22,” the official said. “The context for that was that we put some things on station in the event that a decision was made to bring this down while it was over Montana.”

A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Friday the balloon is a “civilian airship” being used for meteorological purposes and deviated from its planned course.

“The airship is from China. It is a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes,” the spokesperson said. “Affected by the Westerlies and with limited self-steering capability, the airship deviated far from its planned course.”

The Pentagon does not believe the object is a weather balloon that veered off course.

“This was intentional,” a senior U.S. official said, adding that the balloon initially took off from mainland China.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled a previously planned trip to China as a result of the balloon’s discovery.

The balloon was seen over Kansas City, Missouri, Friday. Ryder told reporters the balloon will probably hover over U.S. airspace “a few days.”

By Jennifer Griffin and Adam Sabes source

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Pentagon says another Chinese spy balloon is traveling over Latin America

Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said ‘it is another Chinese surveillance balloon’

Pentagon says another Chinese spy balloon is traveling over Latin America

Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said ‘it is another Chinese surveillance balloon’

“We are seeing reports of a balloon transiting Latin America,” Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, a Pentagon spokesperson, told Fox News Friday night. “We now assess it is another Chinese surveillance balloon.”

Ryder said during a briefing Thursday the U.S. government detected a high-altitude surveillance balloon over the continental U.S.

A senior defense official said during the briefing the U.S. government is “confident” the surveillance balloon is from the People’s Republic of China.

A high-altitude balloon floats over Billings, Mont., Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023.  (Larry Mayer/The Billings Gazette via AP)

The balloon was recently over Montana, and the official said the government considered shooting it down but decided against using military force because of the potential risks.

When President Biden was briefed on the situation, he asked for military options, the official said.

This map shows the approximate path of a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon over Montana Friday, Feb. 3, 2023. (Fox News)

“You did see reports yesterday of a ground stop at Billings Airport and the mobilization of a number of assets, including F-22,” the official said. “The context for that was that we put some things on station in the event that a decision was made to bring this down while it was over Montana.”

A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Friday the balloon is a “civilian airship” being used for meteorological purposes and deviated from its planned course.

A balloon flies in the sky over Billings, Montana, Feb. 1, 2023, in this picture obtained from social media. (Chase Doak/via Reuters)

“The airship is from China. It is a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes,” the spokesperson said. “Affected by the Westerlies and with limited self-steering capability, the airship deviated far from its planned course.”

Red flags flutter in front of the Great Hall of the People March 4, 2022, in Beijing, China.  (VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

The Pentagon does not believe the object is a weather balloon that veered off course.

“This was intentional,” a senior U.S. official said, adding that the balloon initially took off from mainland China.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled a previously planned trip to China as a result of the balloon’s discovery.

By Jennifer Griffin , Adam Sabes | Fox News

Mao urged the US and China to proceed ‘calmly and carefully’ amid the suspected spy balloon investigation

China has announced its government is looking into reports that a suspected Chinese spy balloon was discovered flying in U.S. airspace over Montana.

“China is a responsible country and has always strictly abided by international laws, and China has no intention to violate the territory and airspace of any sovereign countries,” said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning during a daily briefing on Friday.

She also urged U.S. officials and Chinese authorities to proceed “calmly and carefully” amid the investigation.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 1, 2022.  (Ju Huanzong/Xinhua via Getty Images)

The foreign minister said judgment should be withheld “before we have a clear understanding of the facts.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was scheduled to visit China on Friday, becoming the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit the country since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A high altitude balloon floats over Billings, Mont., on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023.  (Larry Mayer/The Billings Gazette via AP)

His visit comes amid months of tense relations between Beijing and Washington over trade, Taiwan, human rights issues and China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea.

“What I want to emphasize is that before we have a clear understanding of the facts, speculation and sensationalizing will be unhelpful to the proper handling of the issue. As for Blinken’s visit to China, I have no information,” Mao said.

“The United States government has detected and is tracking a high-altitude surveillance balloon that is over the continental United States right now,” said Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said during a briefing on Thursday afternoon.

Pentagon spokesman Air Force Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder speaks during a briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023.  (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

He added: “The U.S. government, including NORAD, continues to track and monitor it closely. The balloon is currently traveling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic and does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground. Instances of this kind of balloon activity have been observed previously over the past several years. Once the balloon was detected, the U.S. government acted immediately to protect against the collection of sensitive information.”

The U.S. government is “confident” the surveillance balloon belongs to the People’s Republic of China, a defense official told Fox News. It is also considering bringing it down using military assets.

It is not immediately clear how long the balloon has been in U.S. airspace. The senior defense official said the government has been tracking it for “some time” and that it entered U.S. airspace a “couple of days ago.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report. By Lawrence Richard | Fox News

US government monitoring suspected Chinese spy balloon over northern states

Senior U.S. defense official said government closely monitoring suspected Chinese spy balloon

The U.S. government is monitoring a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that has been moving over northern states over the past several days.

Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said during a briefing on Thursday afternoon that the U.S. government has detected a high-altitude surveillance balloon over the continental U.S.

“The United States government has detected and is tracking a high-altitude surveillance balloon that is over the continental United States right now. The U.S. government to include Norad, continues to track and monitor it closely. The balloon is currently traveling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic and does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground. Instances of this kind of balloon activity have been observed previously over the past several years. Once the balloon was detected, the U.S. government acted immediately to protect against the collection of sensitive information,” Ryder said.

Red flags flutter in front of the Great Hall of the People before the annual two sessions in Beijing on March 4, 2022. (VCG / VCG via Getty Images)

A senior defense official said that the U.S. government is “confident” that the surveillance balloon belongs to the People’s Republic of China.

The defense official said that the balloon was recently over Montana and that officials were considering bringing it down with military assets, but they decided against doing so because of the risks associated, adding that President Joe Biden was briefed on the situation and asked for military options.

“You did see reports yesterday of a ground stop at Billings Airport and the mobilization of a number of assets, including F-22. The context for that was that we put some things on station in the event that a decision was made to bring this down while it was over Montana. So, we wanted to make sure we were coordinating with civil authorities to empty out the airspace around that potential area. But even with those protective measures taken, it was the judgment of our military commanders that we didn’t drive the risk down low enough. So, we didn’t take the shot,” the official said.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, center, walks past military guards during his arrival at the Department of National Defense in Camp Aguinaldo military camp in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines, on Thursday. (Rolex Dela Pena / Pool Photo via AP)

A well-placed senior U.S. official told Fox News that the government is still considering a variety of options with how to deal with the Chinese spy balloon, saying that the options presented to Biden and his national security team included concerns that if the military did shoot down the balloon, there could be civilian casualties the ground.

The White House hasn’t ruled out shooting the balloon down if it were deemed safe to do so, according to the source.

According to the source, there’s more than just a balloon, and heavy equipment would come crashing to the ground if it were to be shot down, creating a large debris field.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin convened a meeting with senior Department of Defense leadership Wednesday to discuss the balloon, and it was decided not to take military action due to “the risk to safety and security of people on the ground from the possible debris field,” the official said. At the time, Austin was visiting Camp Navarro in the Philippines, which is around 2,000 miles from China.

The balloon’s discovery also comes as the U.S. and Philippines agreed to increase its military presence within the islands amid escalating tensions between China and Taiwan.

Flags of Taiwan and U.S. are placed for a meeting in Taipei, Taiwan, on March 27, 2018. (Reuters / Tyrone Siu)

The senior defense official said that the government has been tracking the balloon for “some time” and said it entered U.S. airspace a “couple of days ago.”

While maintaining that the balloon doesn’t present a military threat to the U.S., the official said that it likely isn’t gathering any information of significant value to the People’s Republic of China.

“They’re trying to fly this balloon over sensitive sites, one of which was just mentioned to collect information,” the official said, adding that it’s not the first time that a balloon “of this nature” has been over the U.S.

By Adam Sabes , Liz Friden , Jennifer Griffin | Fox News

updated 2/3/2023 below with videos

]]> https://goodshepherdmedia.net/chinese-spy-balloon-spotted-over-western-us-pentagon-says/ Fri, 03 Feb 2023 04:28:53 +0000 https://goodshepherdmedia.net/?p=10941 Chinese spy balloon spotted over Western US, Pentagon says

Suspected Chinese spy balloon moving over U.S., Pentagon says

The United States government is monitoring a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that has been moving over the northern United States.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. is tracking a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that has been spotted over U.S. airspace for a couple days, but the Pentagon decided not to shoot it down due to the risk of harming people on the ground, officials said Thursday. The discovery of the balloon puts a further strain on U.S.-China relations at a time of heightened tensions.

A senior defense official told Pentagon reporters that the U.S. has “very high confidence” it is a Chinese high-altitude balloon and it was flying over sensitive sites to collect information. One of the places the balloon was spotted was Montana, which is home to one of the nation’s three nuclear missile silo fields at Malmstrom Air Force Base. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information.

He said similar balloon activity has been seen in the past several years. He added that the U.S. took steps to ensure it did not collect sensitive information.

A senior administration official, who was also not authorized to publicly discuss sensitive information, said President Joe Biden was briefed and asked the military to present options. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, advised against taking “kinetic action” because of risks to the safety of people on the ground. Biden accepted that recommendation.

The defense official said the U.S. has “engaged” Chinese officials through multiple channels and communicated the seriousness of the matter.

The incident comes as Secretary of State Antony Blinken was supposed to make his first trip to Beijing, expected this weekend, to try to find some common ground. Although the trip has not been formally announced, both Beijing and Washington have been talking about his imminent arrival.

It was not immediately clear if the discovery of the balloon would impact Blinken’s travel plans.

The senior defense official said the U.S. did get fighter jets, including F-22s, ready to shoot down the balloon if ordered to by the White House. The Pentagon ultimately recommended against it, noting that even as the balloon was over a sparsely populated area of Montana, its size would create a debris field large enough that it could have put people at risk.

It was not clear what the military was doing to prevent it from collecting sensitive information or what will happen with the balloon if it isn’t shot down.

In a letter sent Thursday to Austin, Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., wrote: “The fact that this balloon was occupying Montana airspace creates significant concern that Malmstrom Air Force Base and the United States’ intercontinental ballistic missile fields are the target of this intelligence gathering mission. … It is vital to establish the flight path of this balloon, any compromised U.S. national security assets, and all telecom or IT infrastructure on the ground within the U.S. that this spy balloon was utilizing.”

The defense official said the spy balloon was trying to fly over the Montana missile fields, but the U.S. has assessed that it has “limited” value in terms of providing China intelligence it couldn’t already collect by other means, such through spy satellites.

The official would not specify the size of the balloon, but said it was large enough that despite its high altitude, commercial pilots could see it. All air traffic was halted at Montana’s Billings Logan International Airport from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, as the military provided options to the White House.

A photograph of a large white balloon lingering over the area was captured by The Billings Gazette, but the Pentagon would not confirm if that was the surveillance balloon. The balloon could be seen drifting in and out of clouds and had what appeared to be a solar array hanging from the bottom, said Gazette photographer Larry Mayer.

The defense official said what concerned them about this launch was the altitude the balloon was flying at and the length of time it lingered over a location, without providing specifics.

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte said he was briefed Wednesday about the situation after the Montana National Guard was notified of an ongoing military operation taking place in Montana airspace, according to a statement from the Republican governor and spokesperson Brooke Stroyke.

“From the spy balloon to the Chinese Communist Party spying on Americans through TikTok to CCP-linked companies buying American farmland, I’m deeply troubled by the constant stream of alarming developments for our national security,” Gianforte said in a statement.

Tensions with China are particularly high on numerous issues, ranging from Taiwan and the South China Sea to human rights in China’s western Xinjiang region and the clampdown on democracy activists in Hong Kong. Not least on that list of irritants are China’s tacit support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, its refusal to rein in North Korea’s expanding ballistic missile program and ongoing disputes over trade and technology.

On Tuesday, Taiwan scrambled fighter jets, put its navy on alert and activated missile systems in response to nearby operations by 34 Chinese military aircraft and nine warships that are part Beijing’s strategy to unsettle and intimidate the self-governing island democracy.

Twenty of those aircraft crossed the central line in the Taiwan Strait that has long been an unofficial buffer zone between the two sides, which separated during a civil war in 1949.

Beijing has also increased preparations for a potential blockade or military action against Taiwan, which has stirred increasing concern among military leaders, diplomats and elected officials in the U.S., Taiwan’s key ally.

The surveillance balloon was first reported by NBC News.

Some Montana residents reported seeing an unusual object in the sky around the time of the airport shutdown Wednesday, but it’s not clear that what they were seeing was the balloon.

From an office window in Billings, Chase Doak said he saw a “big white circle in the sky” that he said was too small to be the moon.

He took some photos, then ran home to get a camera with a stronger lens and took more photos and video. He could see it for about 45 minutes and it appeared stationary, but Doak said the video suggested it was slowly moving.

“I thought maybe it was a legitimate UFO,” he said. “So I wanted to make sure I documented it and took as many photos as I could.”

By Tara Copp and Lolita C. Baldor source

Chinese spy balloon flying over US nuclear strategic silos is a ‘message from Beijing’: Lt. Col. Danny Davis

The Pentagon reports having circled the Chinese spy balloon with F-22 Raptors

Pentagon: A high altitude Chinese surveillance balloon has penetrated US airspace

Retired Lt. Col. Daniel Davis breaks down why the Pentagon would recommend to President Biden against shooting down a Chinese spy balloon hovering over northern U.S. states on ‘Jesse Watters Primetime.’

Defense Priorities’ and former lieutenant colonel Danny Davis joined “Jesse Watters Primetime” to weigh in on President Biden’s decision against shooting down a Chinese surveillance balloon flying over the United States.

DANNY DAVIS: I really think that this is supposed to be some sort of message from Beijing, because it comes just days before Secretary Blinken is supposed to meet with his Chinese counterpart and it happened to fly over our nuclear strategic silos, so I don’t think that was by any mistake and any accident either. But I’m not sure what they think we’re going to do if that’s going to scare us or whatever, but it’s certainly not going to work because the power that the United States has is enough to take care of us and keep us safe. Obviously, these [nuclear strategic silos] have been there for four decades and I just wonder if it’s to just graphically say, “hey, we know where your nuclear silos are.” You know, if anything happens with the Taiwan issue, that could come back into play there, because the reality is, Jesse, that China has plenty of low-Earth orbit satellites that have much greater visibility and much higher clarity and can do a lot better spying than what this thing does. So that’s why I think this is probably some sort of message. source

Pentagon tracking suspected Chinese spy balloon over the US

The US is tracking a suspected Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon over the continental United States, defense officials said on Thursday, a discovery that risks adding further strain to tense US-China relations.

Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said the US government has been tracking the balloon for several days as it made its way over the northern United States, adding it was “traveling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic and does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground.”

Speaking on background, a senior US defense official said senior military officials had advised President Joe Biden not to shoot it down due to fear the debris could pose a safety threat to people on the ground.

“We are confident that this high-altitude surveillance balloon belongs to the [People’s Republic of China],” the senior defense official said. “Instances of this activity have been observed over the past several years, including prior to this administration.”

While the balloon’s current flight path carries it over “a number of sensitive sites,” the official said it does not present a significant intelligence gathering risk. The balloon is assessed to have “limited additive value” from an intelligence collection perspective, the official added.

The US, the official said, is “taking steps nevertheless to protect against foreign intelligence collection of sensitive information. We are also tracking what abilities it could have in gaining insights, and continue to monitor the balloon as it was over the continental United States.”

The US believes Chinese spy satellites in low Earth orbit are capable of offering similar or better intelligence, limiting the value of whatever Beijing can glean from the high-altitude balloon, which is the size of three buses, according to another defense official.

“It does not create significant value added over and above what the PRC is likely able to collect through things like satellites in low Earth orbit,” the senior defense official said.

The US government has engaged with the Chinese government both through the Chinese embassy in Washington and the US diplomatic mission in China, according to the official.

US national security officials have constantly warned about Chinese espionage efforts and the balloon’s presence in the US comes at a sensitive moment with Secretary of State Antony Blinken expected to travel to Beijing in the coming days, a significant trip meant to follow up on President Joe Biden’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping last year.

Biden has declared China “America’s most consequential geopolitical challenge” and competition between the two global superpowers is intense. Tensions have flared in recent years over the self-governing island of Taiwan, China’s human rights record and its military activities in the South China Sea, among a host of other issues.

Biden was briefed and took advice not to shoot balloon down

The president has been briefed on the balloon’s movements and requested military options on how to deal with it, according to a senior administration official.

Biden took Milley’s advice not to order the balloon shot down and the official stressed that it does not pose a military threat emphasizing that the administration acted “immediately” to protect against the collection of sensitive information.

The senior defense official mentioned reports from Wednesday about a “ground stop” at Billings Airport in Montana, and the “mobilization of assets, including F-22s.”

“The context for that was, it would put some things on station in the event that a decision was made to bring this down while it was over Montana,” the official said. “So we wanted to make sure we were coordinating with civil authorities to empty out the airspace around that potential area.”

However, it was ultimately the “strong recommendation” of senior military leaders, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, not to shoot it down due to the risk to safety of people on the ground.

“Why not shoot it down? We have to do the risk-reward here,” the official said. “So the first question is, does it pose a threat, a physical kinetic threat, to individuals in the United States in the US homeland? Our assessment is it does not. Does it pose a threat to civilian aviation? Our assessment is it does not. Does it pose a significantly enhanced threat on the intelligence side? Our best assessment right now is that it does not. So given that profile, we assess the risk of downing it, even if the probability is low in a sparsely populated area of the debris falling and hurting someone or damaging property, that it wasn’t worth it.”

Montana is home to fields of underground Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile silos, one potential target for Chinese espionage.

The senior defense official said on Thursday that if the risk level changes, the US “will have options to deal with this balloon.”

We have communicated to [Chinese officials] the seriousness with which we take this issue. … But we have made clear we will do whatever is necessary to protect our people and our homeland.”

This story is been updated with additional developments.

By Oren Liebermann, Haley Britzky and Michael Conte, source