US mulls action against Chinese entities linked to balloon incursion

TIL Desk/World/Washington/ The US is confident that China’s military supported the surveillance balloon’s incursion into its airspace and it will explore taking action against the Chinese entities linked to the programme that targeted more than 40 countries across five continents, an official in Washington, DC, said on Thursday.

The huge balloon was shot down by a US fighter jet on Saturday off the coast of South Carolina in the Atlantic Ocean. It had hovered over continental America for several days after entering the US airspace on January 30 in Montana.

“We know the PRC (People’s Republic of China) has overflown these surveillance balloons over more than 40 countries across five continents. The Biden Administration is reaching out to countries directly about the scope of this programme and answer any questions,” a senior State Department official said. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official asserted that it is known that China used these balloons for surveillance.

“We know these balloons are all part of a PRC (People’s Republic of China) fleet of balloons developed to conduct surveillance operations. These kinds of activities are often undertaken at the direction of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA),” said the official.