February 5, 2023 Suspected China spy balloon news

A balloon spotted over the skies of Latin America belongs to China and was used for flight tests, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said in a regular press briefing on Monday, in response to CNN’s queries.  

This is the first time Beijing has admitted the balloon spotted over two Latin American countries belongs to China. 

The balloon “seriously deviated” from its planned course and entered the skies over Latin America and the Caribbean “by mistake” due to weather conditions and limited control ability over the craft, Mao said.

This is the second Chinese balloon Beijing claims has drifted off course due to the weather, after the US military on Saturday shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon that flew over the continental US for days.

The Colombian Air Force and Costa Rica’s Civil Aviation Authority both confirmed that a white observation balloon similar to the one spotted over the US was tracked in their airspace last week, though they did not attribute the vessel to China.

The Chinese balloon saga threatens to be a watershed moment in the world’s dangerous new superpower rivalry: For the first time, Americans experienced a tangible symbol of the national security challenge from Beijing.

The craft, described by US intelligence as a surveillance balloon, presented a comparatively low-tech, modest security threat compared to the multilayered espionage, economic, cyber, military and geopolitical rivalry escalating every day.

But as it wafted through US skies before being shot down Saturday off of the Carolinas, the balloon created a sudden moment when the idea of a threat by China to the US homeland was neither distant, theoretical, unseen, or years in the future. And it underscored how in today’s polarized America, Washington’s first reaction in the face of a threat is to point fingers rather than unify.

It was not the first time that Chinese balloons have crossed into US airspace during this administration or the last one — and military officials told CNN this one was not seen as a particularly grave intelligence or national security threat. But its mocking days-long sashay from Montana to the eastern seaboard sparked a media frenzy and a Washington uproar.

In what was simultaneously a moment of geopolitical high stakes and high farce, the White House struggled to explain why it hadn’t immediately burst the balloon as officials in South Carolina warned people not to take pot shots at the high-flying Chinese intruder with their rifles.

This all left President Joe Biden in a deeply vulnerable position as his Republican critics pounced. The balloon could not simply be ignored — especially as Secretary of State Antony Blinken was about to head on a trip to Beijing that was quickly canceled as the political storm erupted.

Read the full analysis here.

China’s Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng lodged a “solemn representation” to the US Embassy in Beijing on Sunday over the downing of the Chinese balloon, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday.

According to the statement, the US “turned a deaf ear” against the fact the balloon had “strayed into the US” because of “force majeure,” and “insisted on indiscriminate use of force” against the aircraft “that was about to leave US airspace.” 

“China urges the US not to take further actions that harm China’s interests, and not to escalate or expand the tension… [China] will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies, resolutely defend the interests and dignity of China, and reserves the right to make further necessary reactions,” the statement said.

Some context: China earlier expressed its “strong dissatisfaction and protest” against the shooting down of the balloon, accusing the US of “overreacting” and “seriously violating international practice.” US officials say the balloon was being used for surveillance; China insists it was a civilian research vessel.

The transiting of three suspected Chinese spy balloons over the continental United States during the Trump administration was only discovered after President Joe Biden took office, a senior administration official told CNN on Sunday.

The official did not say how or when those incidents were discovered.

After the Biden administration disclosed last week that a suspected Chinese spy balloon was hovering over Montana, the Pentagon said similar balloon incidents had occurred during the Trump administration. In response, former Trump administration Defense Secretary Mark Esper told CNN on Friday that he was “surprised” by that statement. 

Former President Donald Trump also said on Truth Social that reports of Chinese balloons transiting the US during his administration were “fake disinformation.”  

CNN reported on Sunday that the Pentagon had briefed Congress of previous Chinese surveillance balloons during the Trump administration that flew near Texas and Florida. 

Another Chinese spy balloon also transited the continental US briefly at the beginning of the Biden administration, the senior administration official said. But the balloon that was shot down by the US military on Saturday was unique in both the path it took, down from Alaska and Canada into the US, and the length of time it spent loitering over sensitive missile sites in Montana, officials said. 

The senior administration official said analysis is ongoing into the capabilities of the balloon shot down on Saturday, adding “closely observing the balloon in flight has allowed us to better understand this Chinese program and further confirmed its mission was surveillance.”

The Biden administration believes the Chinese surveillance program has been deployed in countries across five continents over the past several years.

US Navy personnel have been removing items from boats and loading material onto trucks at the Johnny Causey Boat Landing in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on Sunday, according to a CNN team at the scene.

In cell phone video shot earlier in the day that was obtained by CNN, a pile of white material was visible on the deck of one of the boats and several people dressed in camouflage could be seen near the boat.

Another boat that appeared to hold similar material could also be seen at a nearby dock. The people could also be seen unloading several boxes off one of the boats.

CNN cannot confirm that the material is debris from the suspected Chinese spy balloon.

On Sunday night, the personnel would not say what they were doing or why they were working at the boat landing, which is situated along the Intercoastal Waterway in North Myrtle Beach.

They have been identified as Navy personnel according to their uniforms and vessel signage present at the location.

CNN has reached out the Navy Sunday afternoon.

British officials were kept abreast before and after US military fighter jets shot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon over the Atlantic Ocean near the US coastline on Saturday, according to a UK official.

As the US tracked the balloon the UK was provided updates and the US assessment from the National Security Council and State Department, the UK official told CNN on Sunday. The official said they were “discussing closely” the situation with the United States.

Once the balloon was shot down on Saturday, the official said they got an update from the Pentagon.

Earlier on Sunday, UK business secretary Grant Shapps said Britain supported the US’ actions.

“It cannot be right to send spy balloons over the American mainland. The UK would always take national security very seriously,” Shapps said in a radio interview.

GOP Rep. Michael Waltz of Florida says the Pentagon has briefed members of Congress about previous Chinese surveillance balloons that flew near Texas and Florida during the Trump administration. 

The new details about previous surveillance balloons were confirmed by two additional sources familiar with the briefings. It comes amid Republican criticism of the Biden administration for not earlier shooting down the balloon that flew from Alaska to the Carolinas for several days before it was shot down over the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday.

A US official said Friday there had been similar incidents over Hawaii and Guam in recent years. A senior US defense official said Saturday there were three instances during the Trump administration where China briefly transited a surveillance balloon over the continental United States, and once previously during the Biden administration.

Former Trump administration Defense Secretary Mark Esper, however, said he was “surprised” by the Pentagon’s statement that similar incidents happened during the Trump administration.

“I don’t ever recall somebody coming into my office or reading anything that the Chinese had a surveillance balloon above the United States,” he told CNN Friday.

With the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon shot down over the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday, lawmakers on Capitol Hill are gearing up for briefings on China and how the Biden administration handled the short-lived, but geopolitically tense, crisis.

The Gang of Eight will receive a briefing as early Tuesday, according to a congressional source. The group consists of top Democratic and Republican leaders in both the House and Senate, as well as key Intelligence Committee members from both chambers. It is generally privy to sensitive information that the rest of Congress is not always briefed on.

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Sunday that the full Senate will receive a classified briefing on China from the Pentagon’s Office of Net Assessment. That briefing is slated for February 15, according to a congressional source.

Schumer said the briefing will include information about China’s surveillance capabilities, research and development, advanced weapons systems, and other “critical platforms.”

House Republicans are weighing a vote this week on a resolution condemning the Biden administration for its handling of the surveillance balloon, a source familiar with the discussions told CNN.

The resolution could be voted on also as early as Tuesday, the same day President Joe Biden will deliver the State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress at the US Capitol.

The source cautioned to CNN, however, that discussions were still ongoing, and no firm plans had been made as yet. 

Republicans have been increasingly critical of the administration in recent days, accusing it of being slow to take action against the spy balloon and making the US look weak.

Leon Panetta, former U.S. Defense Secretary and former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, speaks during a discussion on countering violent extremism in 2017 in Washington, DC.

Leon Panetta, who served as Defense secretary and CIA director in the Obama administration, offered a rare Democratic critique Sunday of the Biden administration’s handling of the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon.

President Joe Biden told reporters Saturday that he gave the order Wednesday to take down the balloon “as soon as possible.” That did not happen until Saturday after top military officials advised against shooting down the balloon while over the continental US because of the risk the debris could pose to civilians and property on the ground.

“The Pentagon said there were risks here. I understand that argument, there were debris risks. At the same time, I think we should have acted earlier if our suspicions were valid that this was, in fact, on an intelligence mission. I hope in the future we make clear to … China that this kind of incident cannot happen again,” Panetta said.

Panetta said Biden would have faced less criticism if he had been transparent with Americans when officials first considered the balloon was on an intelligence-gathering mission and when Biden made the decision to have it shot down.

“The American people, I think, are entitled to know just exactly what our adversaries are up to,” Panetta said.

House Republicans are weighing the passage of a resolution this week condemning the Biden administration for its handling of the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon, a source familiar with the discussions told CNN.

The resolution could be voted on as early as Tuesday, the same day President Joe Biden will deliver the State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress at the US Capitol.

The source cautioned to CNN, however, that discussions were still ongoing, and no firm plans had been made as yet. 

Republican has been increasingly critical of the administration in recent days, accusing it of being slow to take action against the spy balloon and making the US look weak. US military fighter jets shot down the balloon over the Atlantic Ocean off the Eastern Seaboard of the US on Saturday.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell speaks to reporters during a news conference following the Republican policy luncheon meeting Jan. 31 in Washington, DC.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Biden administration’s decision to shoot down the Chinese spy balloon on Saturday came “too late” and let China “make a mockery” of US airspace.

“As usual when it comes to national defense and foreign policy, the Biden Administration reacted at first too indecisively and then too late. We should not have let the People’s Republic of China make a mockery of our airspace,” the Kentucky Republican said in a statement Sunday.

“This was a reminder of the PRC’s brazenness and President Biden missed the opportunity to defend our sovereignty, send a message of strength, and bolster deterrence,” he said.

Biden told reporters Saturday that he gave the order Wednesday to take down the balloon “as soon as possible” and that the military waited to act until it had passed over the Atlantic Ocean to avoid “doing damage to anyone on the ground.”

In his statement, McConnell cited reports of similar surveillance balloons being spotted in Latin America and elsewhere and said he would like to see the Biden administration work with US allies to defend against the “brazen Chinese espionage.”

A senior administration official and a senior Pentagon official told CNN that the suspected Chinese spy balloon became a cause for more concern when it became clear on Tuesday that it would cross in the contiguous United States. 

The officials said that it was not out of the ordinary for such a balloon to come near or inside Alaskan territory, adding that such encroachments weren’t necessarily a cause for alarm. However, when the balloon took a direct path down to the lower 48 states, US officials began to realize they were dealing with a much different scenario that needed to be elevated to President Joe Biden. The Pentagon official said the fact that the balloon was loitering also drew attention.

That realization occurred Tuesday and triggered a presidential briefing with Biden on Wednesday in which military options were presented. 

The explanation of the timeline comes as Republicans have been fiercely critical of the Biden administration for not acting sooner to stop the balloon. 

The senior Pentagon official told CNN that if the balloon had followed a normal trajectory, “we would have collected on it and we would have monitored it and communicated across Canada and all stations” but added that “this thing became different when it started to loiter over Canada, then it dipped down into Idaho.” 

“One that comes down south, loiters, is controlled, is directional – that’s different,” the official said.

A Gang of Eight briefing on the suspected Chinese spy balloon may occur as early as Tuesday, according to a congressional source.

The group is made up of the top Democratic and Republican leaders in both the House and Senate, as well as key Intelligence Committee members from both chambers. It is generally privy to sensitive information that the rest of Congress is not always briefed on.

A full Senate classified briefing on China will occur on February 15, the source said.

US military fighter jets shot down the balloon over the Atlantic Ocean off the Eastern Seaboard of the United States on Saturday, ending a remarkable public drama that prompted a diplomatic fallout between Washington and Beijing.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks at a news conference January 25 in Washington, DC.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Sunday that the full Senate would receive a comprehensive briefing on China next week.

Schumer said the briefing will include information about China’s surveillance capabilities, research and development, advanced weapons systems, and other “critical platforms.”

He also pushed back on criticism from GOP lawmakers regarding how the Biden administration handled the response to the suspected Chinese spy balloon, which was shot down Saturday over the Atlantic Ocean off the Eastern Seaboard of the United States.

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz on Sunday praised President Joe Biden for “having the guts” to shoot down the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon but said the decision to wait days “telegraphed weakness.”

Biden, for his part, told reporters Saturday that he gave the order Wednesday to take down the balloon “as soon as possible” and that the military waited to act until it had passed over the Atlantic Ocean to avoid “doing damage to anyone on the ground.”  

In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg reiterated Pentagon and White House talking points on the suspected spy balloon, saying that “steps were taken to prevent any problems in terms of intelligence collection.”

The Republican chair of the newly formed House select committee on China called on the Biden administration Sunday to be more firm in its diplomatic relations with Beijing following the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon episode.

Wisconsin Rep. Mike Gallagher told Fox News that the balloon incident “makes us look weak and flat-footed on the world stage” and implored the White House to engage with China with a renewed skepticism.

Gallagher criticized the White House for its response to taking the balloon down, likening the balloon’s dayslong flight over the continental US to a home invasion. 

Gallagher said he believes the balloon “absolutely” could have been taken down after it crossed Alaska’s Aleutian Islands. He said the US should develop the capability to take down surveillance balloons easily if the military isn’t able to already. 

Rep. Mike Turner speaks during the House GOP news conference on December 14, 2022.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner, an Ohio Republican, said Sunday that “there is no excuse” for the Biden administration waiting to shoot down the suspected Chinese spy balloon before it began crossing the continental US.

Turner told NBC News that there is a briefing scheduled for this week on the intelligence assessment of the classified documents found at former President Donald Trump’s home, and that documents discovered in President Joe Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence’s possession will also be included in the briefing.

He was not specific as to whether the briefing would be with the Intelligence Committee or the so-called Gang of Eight – which includes the party leaders in the House and Senate and the four leaders of the two Intelligence committees.

Multiple US Navy and Coast Guard vessels are in the area where the suspected Chinese spy balloon went down and are securing a perimeter, according to a senior US military official said.

The official said “capable Navy divers” will go down as needed into the water to assist in the operation.

There are also “unmanned vessels that can go down to get the structure and lift it back up on the recovery ship,” the official added. The official did not know how long it would take crews to recover any salvageable equipment from the downed aircraft but noted that recovery could take “a relatively short time.”

“I don’t anticipate months and weeks,” the official said.

Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire on Sunday slammed President Joe Biden’s response to the suspected Chinese spy balloon as “too little too late.”

Biden, for his part, told reporters Saturday that he gave the order Wednesday to take down the balloon “as soon as possible” and that the military waited to act until it had passed over the Atlantic Ocean to avoid “doing damage to anyone on the ground.” 

CNN previously reported that the president also wanted the military to shoot down the balloon in such a way that it would maximize the ability to recover its payload, allowing the US intelligence community to sift through its components and gain insights into its capabilities, officials said.

Shooting it down over water also increased the chances of being able to recover the payload intact, the officials said.

Republicans such as Florida Sen. Marco Rubio have countered that Biden should have been more forthcoming with the American public when he first learned about the suspected spy balloon.

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations and Intelligence committees, said Sunday the Biden administration should have gone public about the Chinese balloon much earlier than it did.

The Florida Republican expanded on that message in an interview with ABC News Sunday.

Rubio also expressed skepticism on Sunday that the recovery of the balloon would lead to the discovery of anything new about Chinese intelligence operations, or that the Chinese received information from the balloon that it couldn’t have gotten by other, less visible means.

Still, Rubio told CNN that he is “not sure there should be a direct individual consequence,” for the Chinese incursion into US airspace.

He also dismissed threats from the Chinese that the US had set a dangerous precedent by shooting down what they claim is a civilian balloon as “silly talk.”