The US Is Exploring Taking Action Against Entities Related To China's Obstitious Basin

The US Navy's takeover of Chinese spy balloons. (Wikimedia Commons/US Navy/Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Tyler Thompson)

JAKARTA - The United States will explore taking action against Chinese military-related entities, which supported China's spy balloon flights to US airspace last week, a senior State Department official said Thursday.

Washington believes the Chinese balloon maker, who was shot down by the US military last weekend off the US East Coast, has "direct relations" with the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the official said in a statement.

White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre echoed the idea that Washington would consider taking action, but the US Government has yet to determine what action is being considered.

Jean-Pierre further said the United States would also look at broader efforts to "expose and address" China's larger surveillance activities, posing a threat to the national security of the US and its allies and partners.

The FBI, which led efforts to analyze the remains of the balloons found, told reporters in a briefing that it only obtained limited physical evidence and did not yet have sufficient information to assess its capabilities.

"This is very early for us in this process, and the evidence that has been found and brought to the FBI is very limited," a bureau official said.

FBI officials say they still don't have access to most of the balloon's "charge", where most of the onboard electronics are most likely to be carried, but most remain underwater.

Separately, speaking at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman highlighted Chinese balloon flights as another sign of Beijing's efforts to reshape the international order.

"This irresponsible act shows in full what we have long acknowledged: that the RRT (Chinese People's Republic) has become more repressive at home and more aggressive abroad," Sherman said at the hearing.

Sherman said Washington would continue to block China from using US technology to advance its military modernization.

"The PRC is the only competitor with the intent and means to reshape the international order," Sherman said, adding that balloon violations of US sovereignty and international law were "the latest example of reality."

However, Sherman said he hoped Washington and Beijing could continue to work together on issues of common concern such as climate change "at these difficult times."

In a statement issued by the State Department, the senior official said the balloon manufacturer had direct ties to the Chinese military and was a vendor approved by the People's Liberation Army.

The company also advertises balloon products on its website and stores videos from previous flights, which appear to have filled US airspace and other countries' airspace, the official said, without specifying its business.

The official said the United States had collected high-resolution images of the balloon based on U-2 cross-air flights, which revealed that the balloon was capable of conducting intelligence signal collection operations.

China has carried out similar surveillance flights across more than 40 countries on five continents, the official said.

As previously tied up, the US Air Force dropped the balloon off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday last week, a week after entering US airspace. China's Foreign Ministry said it was an exploding weather balloon, accusing the United States of overreaction.

On Monday, the United States briefed 150 foreign diplomats in Washington and sent information to its missions around the world to share details about the balloon incident.

Yesterday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Mao Ning rejected US allegations that the balloon was part of a worldwide spy fleet, saying the allegations could be part of a "US information war against China."