U.S. officials said Monday that improvements ordered by President Joe Biden to strengthen defenses against Chinese espionage helped to identify last week\u2019s spy balloon \u2014 and to determine that similar flights were conducted at multiple points during the Trump administration.
\nWhite House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that after Biden took office, the U.S. \u201cenhanced our surveillance of our territorial airspace, we enhanced our capacity to be able to detect things that the Trump administration was unable to detect.\u201d
\nBiden, in turn, has been faulted by some Republicans for not ordering the balloon shot down before it made its way across the U.S. Officials have said there was concern about damage to people on the ground, and Biden addressed the issue on Monday.
\n\u201cOnce it came over to the United States, from Canada, I told the Defense Department I wanted to shoot it down as soon as it was appropriate,\u201d Biden said. The military concluded \u201cwe should not shoot it down over land, it was not a serious threat.\u201d
\nIn a brief exchange with reporters, Biden expressed his continued displeasure with Beijing. Asked why China launched the balloon over the U.S., he replied simply, \u201cBecause they\u2019re the Chinese.\u201d
\nBiden administration officials have planned a classified briefing for all senators on Thursday to discuss the spy balloon situation, according to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer\u2019s office.
\nSullivan, speaking at an event hosted by the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, said as part of the surveillance improvements since Biden took office, \u201cwe were able to go back and look at the historical patterns\u201d and uncover \u201cmultiple instances\u201d during the Trump administration in which Chinese surveillance balloons traversed American airspace and territory.
\nSeveral Trump administration officials have have said they didn\u2019t learn of Chinese spy balloons during their tenures.
\nBefore Monday, U.S. officials had said that at least three times during the Trump administration and at least one other time during Biden\u2019s time as president balloons have crossed American airspace, but not for this long. In those instances, the United States determined the balloons belonged to China only after they had left U.S. airspace, said Gen. Glen VanHerck, head of U.S. Northern Command.
\n\u201cI will tell you that we did not detect those threats,\u201d VanHerck said of his military command. \u201cAnd that\u2019s a domain awareness gap that we have to figure out.\u201d He added that the U.S. intelligence community \u201cafter the fact\u201d informed his command about the balloons.
\nSullivan did not explain what specifically allowed the U.S. to detect and track the latest balloon where the previous administration might not have. Officials have said, without elaborating, that China has flown similar balloons over parts of five continents in recent years.
\nSullivan defended Biden\u2019s decision to wait until the balloon was off the Carolina coastline before shooting it down, saying military advisers assessed that downing it over water \u201ccreated a greater possibility that we could effectively exploit the wreckage than if it were shot down over land.\u201d That was in addition to the warnings from the Pentagon of a potential risk to Americans on the ground.
\nVanHerck described the debris spreading on the waters over \u201c15 football fields by 15 football fields square.\u201d
\n\u201cThe payload itself, I would categorize that as a jet airliner type of size, maybe a regional jet. … Probably weighed in excess of a couple thousand pounds,\u201d he said.
\nSullivan said the U.S. was \u201cstill piecing through\u201d which Chinese officials knew what about the balloon and would not speak publicly yet about U.S. assessments about China\u2019s intentions flying it over the U.S.
\nThe Biden administration had previously raised concerns about China\u2019s use of surveillance balloons with Congress, including during briefings last August, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
\nWhite House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Monday that the U.S. military had begun collecting debris from the balloon. He also confirmed that the White House has offered to brief key officials from the Trump administration, but said briefings had yet to take place.
\nKirby firmly rejected Beijing\u2019s claim that the U.S. violated international law by shooting down the balloon.
\n\u201cThe United States, under President Biden\u2019s authority and orders acted in accordance with international law and in defense of our homeland and our sovereign airspace,\u201d Kirby said. \u201cWe were absolutely within our rights to bring down that balloon.\u201d
\nKirby also dismissed China\u2019s contention that the balloon was for meteorological purposes, saying \u201cit strains credulity … that this was some kind of weather balloon that was floating on the winds.\u201d
\nVanHerck, commander of U.S. Northern Command, said the U.S. \u201ctook maximum precautions\u201d to prevent the balloon from collecting information as it crossed the nation. He declined to provide any details on how that was done, including by the military\u2019s U.S. Strategic Command. The Navy is taking protective measures during recovery operations, in case there were explosives on the balloon, he said.
\nHe said some debris may float ashore, and he warned the public not to try to collect it.
\nThe decision to strike the balloon when it was six miles off the coast was made after consultations with NASA, which had estimated the potential debris field due to the balloon\u2019s altitude, VanHerck said.
\nThe Navy is also using an underwater unmanned vehicle to photograph and track debris. Monday was the first day it could be used due to rough seas, according to White House and Pentagon officials.
\nThe White House said the balloon was a setback to already tense relations with Beijing. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was supposed to visit China but the trip was put on hold because of the incident.
\nStill, White House officials said America\u2019s China relationship is perhaps the most consequential for the United States and that communication between the two countries continues. Jean-Pierre said the incident hasn\u2019t changed Biden\u2019s focus on establishing guardrails in the often tense relationship and acting cooperatively on some issues of mutual concern.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s up to China to figure out what kind of relationship that they want,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Apnews<\/p>\n
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