US to ‘Explore’ Retaliation for Balloon Flyover as White House Alleges Vast Chinese Spy Operation

Although the US Air Force already shot down the Chinese high-altitude balloon that flew over much of the US last week, the Biden administration is reportedly still considering further punitive actions in response to the flight. The Pentagon has claimed the balloon carried sensitive equipment for monitoring signals.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, an unnamed senior US State Department official said the US “will also look at broader efforts to expose and address [China’s] larger surveillance activities that pose a threat to our national security, and to our allies and partners.”

According to the official, the balloon was just one part of a larger, globe-spanning intelligence program that the Pentagon says has covered 40 nations on five continents. The program is allegedly run out of the southern Chinese island of Hainan, and according to the official, is made by a company with close ties to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). No reports have named the company in question.

“We know these balloons are all part of a PRC [People's Republic of China] fleet of balloons developed to conduct surveillance operations,” the official said.

“The company also advertises balloon products on its website and hosts videos from past flights, which appear to have overflown at least US airspace and airspace of other countries,” the State Department official said. “These advertised balloon videos seemingly have similar flight patterns as the balloons we have been discussing this week.”

China has denied the balloon has military value, saying it was a civilian research balloon that scientists lost control over. They have protested the downing of the balloon and requested it be returned to them.

Balloon Saga

The balloon was first detected passing the Aleutian Islands late last month and tracked by the Defense Department as it passed over mainland Alaska and central Canada, only becoming a new story once the balloon arrived over a USAF nuclear missile base in Montana. At the time, the US decided to observe the balloon instead of shooting it down, but eventually did so off the South Carolina coast.

According to Pentagon officials, close observation of the balloon helped them identify several past unexplained incidents as having been balloon flights, too. U-2 spy planes that flew close to the balloon last week allegedly captured photos showing antennae on the balloon that officials said could be used to intercept communications signals and other emissions from US military facilities.

On Monday, US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman reportedly briefed 150 officials from 40 embassies about their intelligence on the Chinese balloon.

Antony Blinken, the US’ foreign minister, also postponed his trip to China amid the balloon fiasco. However, he spoke by phone with Wang Yi, his former counterpart who is now the Communist Party of China’s seniormost diplomatic expert, and called the overflight “an irresponsible act and a clear violation of US sovereignty and international law.”

Parallel US Program

The US has also explored using high-altitude balloons to gather intelligence or to even launch offensive weapons, dedicating $27 million toward the effort in the 2023 budget. Historically, the US also used spy balloons disguised as weather balloons to fly over China and the Soviet Union in the 1950s, when Washington did not recognize the socialist government in Beijing as a legitimate government. Spy plane flights over China were also conducted and at least five U-2s were shot down, but reportedly ended when they normalized relations in the 1970s.

At a Senate hearing about the balloon incident on Thursday, US Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) said she thought that if a US spy balloon were caught “violating their airspace,” the PLA “would not hesitate” to shoot it down. However, Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims, the director of operations for the Joint Staff and a witness at the hearing, said he wasn’t so sure.