The United States believes that China used balloons to spy on at least 40 countries. The information was disclosed on Wednesday 8, by Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “The United States is not the only target of this broader program, which has violated the sovereignty of countries on five continents,” he said. China argues that the balloon was used primarily to collect meteorological information.
Blinken also stated that the USA are acquiring more information “almost hourly” about the Chinese high-altitude balloon shot down on Saturday the 4th, — whose wreckage was recovered by the Americans —, and that they will be shared with Congress and external allies.
At a news conference, Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder said the artifacts had been sighted over Latin America, Southeast and East Asia and Europe.
US intelligence attributes the balloon that flew over the country to a surveillance program operated for years by Beijing and originated in Hainan province, an island off the south coast of China.
The newspaper Washington Post published a report denouncing that the Chinese project would have collected military information in countries and areas strategic for Beijing, including neighbors and regional rivals.
According to Jens Stoltenberg, secretary general of the Western military alliance (NATO), the Chinese are “substantially” increasing their military strength, including nuclear weapons, without transparency.