America’s new claim about the Chinese balloon

According to the report of Fars International News Agency, NBC News reported, several American intelligence officials who did not disclose their names claimed based on an investigation, an internet company in America, Balon China, which was shot down by this country’s army fighter on the pretext of espionage in February 2023, had kept it connected to the Internet. shot down China after allegedly violating its airspace. The sending of this balloon, which Washington called “espionage” and Beijing called it “meteorological”, created a new tension in the relations between the two countries.

American network NBC News claimed in a report citing anonymous intelligence officials that the balloon used the internet services of an American provider to exchange information with China. According to this report, this company, whose name is For undisclosed security reasons, he announced that an internal investigation did not find any documents to support this claim.

According to “Anatolia” news agency, a spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in Washington said: “As we have previously stated, this balloon, which was used for meteorological research, was unintentionally diverted towards the territory of the United States of America due to strong winds and limited maneuverability.”

On February 3, 2023, the Pentagon claimed that this Chinese balloon was a spy balloon that flew in the airspace of the United States and passed over sensitive military facilities such as long-range missiles and nuclear warheads in the state of Montana.

In the days following the balloon’s downing, four more unidentified flying objects were shot down over the United States and Canada, as speculation swirled about its ability to spy on the United States.

After the downing of this balloon, China protested to the United States for “using military force to intervene against a civilian unmanned aerial vehicle”.

In mid-April, NBC Network US C News quoted two officials of this country and reported that this Chinese balloon was able to collect information from the country’s military sites. The Pentagon announced a day later that it did not confirm the report of NBC News and analyzed and investigated the issue. The controversy over the entry of the Chinese balloon into the American airspace claimed that the balloon did not collect information over the United States.

“Patrick Ryder”, the spokesman of the Pentagon in early July in a press conference announcing the official position of the ministry. The American defense said about this balloon: “Our assessment is that this balloon did not collect information while flying over the United States.”