Several countries targeted by Chinese spy balloons,including India: Report

China deployed a fleet of spy balloons targeting various countries, including India and Japan, according to a media report, days after the United States military shot down a Chinese surveillance craft flying over vital installations in the country.

The United States has updated its friends and allies, including India, on the findings of the Chinese spy balloon that was shot down by a U.S. fighter jet off the coast of South Carolina in the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday.Monday, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman briefed officials from approximately forty embassies on the matter.

The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that Chinese spy balloons have gathered information on military assets in countries and regions of emerging strategic interest to China, such as Japan, India, Vietnam, Taiwan, and the Philippines. The balloons have operated for several years partially from Hainan province off China’s southern coast.

According to the newspaper, officials have stated that these surveillance airships have been sighted over all five continents. These airships are reportedly managed in part by the air force of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

According to a senior defence source who was quoted on the matter, “These balloons are all part of a PRC (People’s Republic of China) fleet of balloons built to perform surveillance activities, which also infringed the sovereignty of other countries.”

Also Read:- Turkey Earthquake :Turkey President Acknowledges “Shortcomings” As Deaths Crosses 15,000

In addition to the one that was monitored just last week, the daily reports that over the past few years at least four balloons have been seen flying over Hawaii, Florida, Texas, and Guam.
According to the report, three of the four incidents occurred during the time that President Trump was in office, but the Chinese surveillance airships responsible for them were just recently identified. The United States Department of Defense (DoD) published a sequence of photographs on Tuesday depicting the recovery of the high-altitude surveillance balloon.