The president of the United States, Joe Biden, affirmed this Thursday that, according to intelligence data, the balloons shot down in recent weeks “probably” belonged to private companies or “recreational institutions” and not to Chinese espionage, as initially attributed.
The head of the White House attributed this novelty to data provided by US intelligence agencies and explained that He ordered the demolition of these devices “as a precaution”, due to the danger they posed to commercial air traffic and because at that time the risk of surveillance could not be “ruled out” on “sensitive facilities”.
The president made these statements this Thursday afternoon, at a press conference in which he announced that Washington will launch an action plan to register the eventual appearance of new aerial objects over its territory and destroy them, after the incidents that occurred in The last weeks.
“If any object poses a threat to the safety of Americans, I will shoot it down.” warned the president at a press conference.
Biden specified that he ordered the Department of Homeland Security to inventory drones over US airspace and increase their detection capacity.
He added that he instructed the competent officials to update the rules that regulate the possession and launch of unmanned aerial objects.
He also stressed that the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, will be in charge of “establishing common global standards in this aspect, largely unregulated”, according to the news agencies AFP and Europa Press.
The president argued that with these instructions he seeks to distinguish “between those (flying objects) that are likely to pose security risks and require action, and those that are not.”
“These steps will lead to safer skies for our air travelers, our Army, our scientists, and also for the people on the ground,” he remarked.
Biden maintained that there was not a “sudden increase” in suspicious air objects, but that the detection of several of them in recent weeks was due to the increase in tasks and the ability of radars to identify them.
Relations between the United States and China have become tense in recent weeks, after Biden ordered on the 4th of this month to shoot down an object that the Pentagon then described as a “Chinese spy balloon.”
Beijing acknowledged that the device belonged to it, but assured that it was a meteorological device that strayedor his career, and accused the White House of overreacting and unnecessary use of armed force.
After that first incident, three other objects were shot down in North America, but Washington was unable to identify their origin.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby admitted Tuesday that Washington had “no indication” that the latest three downed balloons were of Chinese origin or for espionage purposes.
“It could be balloons that were simply tied to commercial or research entities and therefore harmless,” Kirby said at the time, though he maintained that China is pursuing a “deliberate and well-funded program” to spy on the United States and China with balloons. other countries.