03 April 2023 , 11:14
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One of the Chinese surveillance balloons that flew above the US succeeded in retrieving intelligence data from military sites, sources have said.
China was able to remotely control the balloon as it hovered above areas of interest. The balloon managed to obtain information despite efforts from the US side to block it, it was said.
The data was mainly from electronic signals, such as communications from base personnel, military officials told NBC. The date was then immediately transmitted straight back to Beijing.
Once they had understood the surveillance purpose of the balloons, US military officials then tried to stop their equipment from broadcasting signals.
The balloons were also equipped with a self-destructing mechanism that Chinese officials controlling it could activate.
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Chinese spy balloon in the sky over Billings, Montana (CHASE DOAK/AFP via Getty Images)US officials studied the debris and remnants of the balloons after they were shot down.
However, US military officials said at the time that the balloons only had only "limited additive value" for intelligence collection by the Chinese government "over and above what [China] is likely able to collect through things like satellites in low earth orbit".
After one of the balloons was downed in February, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin had said in a statement: "US military commanders had determined downing the balloon while over land posed an undue risk to people across a wide area due to the size and altitude of the balloon and its surveillance payload."
US authorities picked up the debris after the balloon was shot down (US NAVY/AFP via Getty Images)Tensions between China and the US have been worsening with the spy balloons that were discovered and shot down in US airspace.
When asked in an interview in February whether the balloon episodes represented a major security breach, US President Joe Biden had said no.
“Look, the total amount of intelligence gathering that’s going on by every country around the world is overwhelming,” he said.
“Anyway, it’s not a major breach. I mean, look ... it’s a violation of international law. It’s our airspace. And once it comes into our space, we can do what we want with it.”
The US condemned China for a “brazen violation” of US sovereignty and efforts to “deceive the international community through false claims about its intelligence collection campaigns.”
US President Joe Biden and China's President Xi Jinping - Tensions between the countries are worsening (AFP via Getty Images)In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning insisted that the large unmanned balloon was a civilian meteorological airship that had blown off course and that the US had “overreacted” by shooting it down.
“It is irresponsible,” Mao said. The latest accusations, she said, “may be part of the US side’s information warfare against China.”
'Chinese spy balloon' sparks concern after flying over sensitive sites in the US
The US flatly contradicted China’s version of events, saying that imagery of the balloon collected by American U-2 spy planes as it crossed the country showed that it was “capable of conducting signals intelligence collection” with multiple antennas and other equipment designed to upload sensitive information and solar panels to power them.