The U.S. intelligence revealed that the Chinese spy balloon had targeted many other nations, including Japan, India, Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines.
What Happened: Washington has linked the Chinese spy balloon to a vast surveillance program run by China's People's Liberation Army, Washington Post reported, citing anonymous U.S. officials.
The report said officials have started briefing U.S. allies and partners who have been similarly targeted. The officials said these surveillance balloons, operated in part by the Chinese air force, have been spotted over five continents.
"What the Chinese have done is taken an unbelievably old technology, and basically married it with modern communications and observation capabilities" to try to glean intelligence on other nations' militaries, an official said. "It's a massive effort."
One of the senior administration officials revealed that the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, on Monday, led a briefing on Xi Jinping's spy balloon for some 150 people from about 40 embassies. The State Department has also sent out "detailed information" on the espionage that can be shared with allies and partners to every U.S. Embassy, it added.
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"There has been great interest in this on the part of our allies and partners," said a senior administration official.
"Many of them recognize that they, too, may be vulnerable or susceptible to this or an object of interest to the PRC [People's Republic of China]," the official added.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy released photos showing the recovery of the remnants of the balloon that was recently shot down on the orders of President Joe Biden off the coast of South Carolina.
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