The Chinese spy balloon that was shot down by a US fighter jet off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday was the product of a factory based out of a naval base on a remote island in the Communist nation, it has been revealed.
A new report from the Washington Post details that the airship, which triggered a dramatic, and public, spying saga that worsened Chinese-U.S. relations, has been a key part of Beijing's intelligence operations for years.
The report says that the Chinese military has previously sent balloons into the airspace of geopolitical rivals such as Japan, India and the Philippines.
The Pentagon earlier said that at least four other balloons were previously detected over US airspace, in Hawaii, Florida, Texas and Guam, three of those were during Donald Trump's presidency.
Last Friday, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken postponed his trip to China hours before he was due to leave because of the balloon. While on Tuesday, China's defense minster rejected an overture from US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to discuss the events of the last week.
The Pentagon said in a statement: 'Lines between our militaries are particularly important in moments like this. Unfortunately, the PRC has declined our request. Our commitment to open lines of communication will continue,' reports Politico.
One senior official told the Post that China's airship program represents a 'massive effort' within the country's espionage programs. The program is based of the Yulin Naval Base on Hainan Island on China's southern coast.
While a Japanese official told the newspaper that in 2020 an orb was spotted over the country, which many believed was a UFO. That official said: 'In hindsight people are realizing that was a Chinese espionage tool. But at that time it was purely novel — nobody had seen this.'
Intelligence officials do not have an estimate on how many spy balloons the Chinese military possesses. An official did use the word 'dozens' when asked about how many sightings there have been in recent years, according to the Post.
The newspaper went on to report that in June 2022, a spy balloon crashed in Hawaii. As a result, the US military were able to gleam valuable information about Chinese military technology.
Speaking about the advantages of using a balloon for spying reasons rather than more sophisticated technology, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Charlie 'Tuna' Moore said: 'If you have a balloon that’s moving extremely slowly you have persistence that you can’t get from a satellite.'
Moore added that typically satellites only have seconds in order to take pictures of their targets.
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