11.8 C
Athens
Σάββατο, 23 Νοεμβρίου, 2024

China has high-altitude balloon programme linked to army, White House says

Περισσότερα Νέα

- Advertisement -

The White House has determined that China has a “high-altitude balloon programme” for intelligence gathering.

It comes as tensions are mounting between the US and China after the US shot down a fourth unidentified object over North American airspace.

It was downed over Lake Huron in Michigan at 2.42pm local time on Sunday on President Joe Biden’s orders and came after objects were shot down in Alaska and Canada on Friday and Saturday.

John Kirby, the national security council coordinator for strategic communications, said on Monday that the US is still working to “better understand” foreign intelligence collection efforts.

In this photo provided by Chad Fish, the remnants of a large balloon drift above the Atlantic Ocean, just off the coast of South Carolina, with a fighter jet and its contrail seen below it, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023. The downing of the suspected Chinese spy balloon by a missile from an F-22 fighter jet created a spectacle over one of the state...s tourism hubs and drew crowds reacting with a mixture of bewildered gazing, distress and cheering. (Chad Fish via AP)

- Advertisement -

“We were able to determine that China has a high-altitude balloon programme for intelligence that’s connected to the People’s Liberation Army,” he said at a news conference.

He says the balloons have provided “limited capabilities” but in the future as technology advances, it could become “more valuable to them”.

Mr Kirby says because the US cannot “definitively” identify what the risks of the balloons are, they reacted out of “an abundance of caution”.

Mr Kirby said the objects were not manned and there were no signs they had manoeuvring or propulsion capabilities.

He added: “We did assess that their altitudes were considerably lower than the Chinese high-altitude balloon and did pose a threat to civilian commercial air traffic.

“And while we have no specific reason to suspect that they were conducting surveillance of any kind, we couldn’t rule that out.”

He said the missions were “conducted successfully and safely”.

Efforts are under way to recover what remains of the objects to understand what they are, but the ones in Alaska and Canada are in remote terrain, making it more difficult to find them.

Outside of recovery operations, NORAD (North American Aerospace Defence Command) is continuing to monitor the situation, Mr Kirby said.

‘No indication of aliens’

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, also addressing the media at the news conference, emphasised that the American people should hear “there is no indication of aliens” from the White House.

She joked with the journalists gathered for the briefing: “I loved ET the movie, but I am just going to leave it there.”


Karine Jean-Pierre
White House Press Secretary

Elsewhere, US defence secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters from Brussels that the “safety and security” of the American people is President Joe Biden’s “number one priority”.

He said: “I want to reassure Americans that these objects do not present a military threat to anyone on the ground. They do, however, present a risk to civil aviation, and potentially an intelligence collection threat. And we’ll get to the bottom of it.”

He added that the US has not been able to “definitively assess what these recent objects are”.

‘Very serious situation’

Earlier, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the invasion of North American airspace is “a very serious situation” and is being taken seriously.

He said the issue will be part of discussions when he meets US President Biden.

Mr Trudeau said search and recovery efforts for the object shot down by a US fighter jet over Yukon territory on his orders on Saturday were under way, but the weather was posing some challenges in the search for debris.

“Obviously there is some sort of pattern in there, the fact we are seeing this in a significant degree over the past week is a cause for interest and close attention,” he said.

- Advertisement -

ΑΠΑΝΤΗΣΤΕ

εισάγετε το σχόλιό σας!
παρακαλώ εισάγετε το όνομά σας εδώ

The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

Ροή ειδήσεων

ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ

Fatwa against VPNs: A threat to digital freedom in Pakistan

In a rapidly evolving digital world, where technology is increasingly integrated into every aspect of our lives, the internet is often viewed as a...

Strikes and protests increase in China due to unpaid wages and factory closures

Strikes and protests by labourers and industry workers have seen arise in China where such incidences are strictly forbidden. The majority of the protests...

Pakistan: HRCP demands reversal of Anti-Terrorism Act amendment proposal, warns of threats to democracy

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) concluded its 38th Annual General Meeting with a stern call for urgent action to address Pakistan’s worsening...

China’s space ambitions face ‘huge test’ from Musk presence in Trump White House

Tech mogul Elon Musk's potential weight in the second Donald Trump administration is likely to accelerate the US space programme and pose a "huge test" to China's extraterrestrial...

ΔΗΜΟΦΙΛΗ ΑΡΘΡΑ

Φέτβα κατά των VPN: Μια απειλή για την ψηφιακή ελευθερία στο Πακιστάν

Σε έναν ταχέως εξελισσόμενο ψηφιακό κόσμο, όπου η τεχνολογία ενσωματώνεται ολοένα και περισσότερο σε κάθε πτυχή της ζωής μας, το Διαδίκτυο θεωρείται συχνά ως...

Fatwa against VPNs: A threat to digital freedom in Pakistan

In a rapidly evolving digital world, where technology is increasingly integrated into every aspect of our lives, the internet is often viewed as a...

Σε κίνδυνο τα ανθρώπινα δικαιώματα στο Πακιστάν

Η Επιτροπή Ανθρωπίνων Δικαιωμάτων του Πακιστάν (HRCP) ολοκλήρωσε την 38η Ετήσια Γενική Συνέλευση με μια αυστηρή έκκληση για επείγουσα δράση για την αντιμετώπιση της...

Οι απεργίες και οι διαδηλώσεις αυξάνονται στην Κίνα λόγω των απλήρωτων μισθών και του κλεισίματος των εργοστασίων

Απεργίες και διαμαρτυρίες από εργάτες και εργάτες της βιομηχανίας έχουν εμφανιστεί στην Κίνα όπου τέτοια περιστατικά απαγορεύονται αυστηρά. Η πλειονότητα των διαμαρτυριών διεξήχθη πριν...