Chinese Spy Balloon

Republican lawmakers are expressing alarm over Beijing’s persistent efforts to use Western outlets to spread its narratives, including claims that Washington had overreacted to a “wandering balloon” and damaged the bilateral relationship. In an op-ed recently published in the Washington Post, Xu Xueyuan, the chargé d’affaires at the Chinese regime’s embassy in Washington, repeated Beijing’s […]

Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), chairman of the House Select China Committee, has called on the U.S. Treasury Department to take a much more active role in the thwarting of Chinese firms involved with the espionage sector responsible for the deployment of the spy balloon shot down off the coast of South Carolina in early February. […]

The Pentagon released a photo of the Chinese spy balloon on Wednesday taken by a U.S. Air Force pilot before it was shot down earlier this month. The photo of the Chinese spy balloon hovering over the central continental United States was captured by a U-2 pilot on Feb. 3. The image depicts the pilot […]

Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned Beijing’s act of sending a surveillance balloon over U.S. airspace in the first bilateral meeting he had with his Chinese counterpart. “Just met with the PRC’s top diplomat, Wang Yi,” Blinken wrote on Twitter after their meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. “I condemned the incursion […]

The United States has concluded its efforts to collect the remains of a Chinese spy balloon that it shot down off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4. U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM), which oversees the defense for much of North America, said in a Feb. 17 statement that the final pieces of the debris […]

U.S. President Joe Biden is seeking a meeting with Chinese communist leader Xi Jinping to discuss developments related to the United States’ shooting down a Chinese spy balloon earlier this month, and to pursue regular relations with China. Biden ordered the balloon to be shot down when it entered airspace over the continental United States […]

Republican lawmakers are demanding answers after President Joe Biden gave his first extensive comments on the U.S. military responses to a Chinese spy balloon and three unidentified aerial objects on Thursday. “We don’t yet know exactly what these three objects were. But nothing right now suggests they were related to China’s spy balloon program or […]

The United States is seeking to avoid a Cold War with Beijing following a violation of American sovereignty by a Chinese spy balloon, according to a senior government official. The balloon that was shot down by U.S. forces on Feb. 4 off the coast of South Carolina was only one example of an increasingly hostile […]

During a recent interview, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) addressed two concerns about the Biden administration’s reactions to current events. The lawmaker said he believes there is still a lot to learn about the Ohio train derailment and that the Biden administration should be more transparent about the Chinese spy balloon. Burchett spoke to NTD’s Steve […]

With the Chinese spy balloon, President Joe Biden seemed to downplay it by saying that in the grand scheme of things, such a spy object alone entering us airspace isn’t the greatest deal. Vice President Kamala Harris is echoing the same sentiment. NTD spoke to Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) to further discuss the spy balloon […]

President Joe Biden gives his first formal remarks on shooting down the Chinese spy balloon and unidentified objects. He gives a warning to Beijing, and he tells the nation about how we’ll handle future incidents. The Environmental Protection Agency is addressing people’s concerns over the train derailment in Ohio. This comes as senators are pressing […]

The U.S. military has made adjustments to how it patrols the skies after the Chinese spy balloon incursion. This includes the monitoring of threats, and how it tracks and responds to them. Retired U.S. Army Colonel John Mills tells NTD that NORAD is retuning radar to pick up slow-moving objects. Mills says objects like the […]

The U.S. Senate is passing two resolutions formally condemning China’s communist regime for illegally incurring into American airspace with a spy balloon and demanding transparency on the issue from the Biden administration. Senators approved two resolutions on Feb. 15 condemning the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for its efforts to spy on American citizens and military […]

Gen. Robert Spalding talks to NewsMakers about the possible shift in the rules of engagement with China after the United States shot down the Chinese spy balloon. What significance does this change mean and what does it mean for China’s future plans?

Communist China is sanctioning two American defense companies for arms sales to Taiwan amid the growing fallout over the shootdown of a Chinese spy balloon in U.S. airspace. Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, America’s two largest defense manufacturers, will be added to the regime’s sanctions list, according to a Feb. 16 announcement by China’s Ministry of […]

Rick Fisher, senior fellow at International Assessment and Strategy Center, gives his expert analysis of the latest information concerning the CCP spy balloon and the three mystery objects shot out of the sky over North America.

Diplomacy between Washington and Beijing souring over balloons.  

Republican lawmakers said the Chinese high-altitude balloon’s recent passage over the United States was a chance to raise awareness in America about the prevalence of China’s surveillance efforts. “This balloon episode can have a silver lining, and that silver lining is that I hope this is a wake-up call for all of American society and […]

Four balloons were found in the U.S. and one of them came from China, but the origin of the other 3 are unknown. Casey Fleming, CEO of BlackOps Partners, to find out more about the balloons’ origins and why he calls the situation a Pearl Harbor moment for the United States.  

Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) is a colonel in the U.S. Army National Guard, with over 20 years of military service. NTD discusses with the congressman the Chinese spy balloon, as well as U.S. relations with the Chinese communist regime.

Now, the White House has confirmed that a spy balloon program linked to China’s military has been targeting the United States and its allies for espionage. NTD spoke to Bart Marcois, former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs at the Department of Energy, for his thoughts.

Recently, the U.S. military shot down a Chinese spy balloon that had been floating across America, collecting information. I examine all the details that we know about the balloon and what this means for U.S.-China relations. China is economically, militarily, and clandestinely way ahead of where we think they are, and no amount of integration […]

Tensions are running high between the United States and China amid the spy balloon fallout, which could have economic consequences if China cuts off parts of its supply chains. Javier Palomarez, the founder and CEO of the U.S. Hispanic Business Council, tells NTD that American small businesses would bear the brunt of losing imports such […]

John Bolton, who served as national security adviser during the Trump administration, said on Monday that he will be briefed by Biden administration officials during a scheduled meeting on Feb. 15 about Chinese spy balloon incursions that happened during the Trump administration. During an appearance on “Meet the Press NOW” on Feb. 13, Bolton said […]

Key electronics have been recovered from China’s surveillance balloon that was shot down off the east coast by the U.S. military on Feb. 4, including sensors that are believed to have been used to gather intelligence, U.S. officials have said. “Crews have been able to recover significant debris from the site, including all of the priority sensor […]

With four high-altitude flying objects spotted over the United States and Canada, one of them has already been labeled a Chinese spy balloon. What message did Beijing send to the world with the incident? And what about other threats from the communist regime? NTD sat down with Arthur Herman, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute […]

The White House is confirming that a spy balloon program linked to China’s military targeted the United States and its allies for espionage. Speaking at a Feb. 13 press conference, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby acknowledged the program, which the United States disclosed for the first time last week. “China has […]

The Chinese high-altitude balloon that passed over the United States at the start of February “did a lot of damage,” according to Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. In an interview on CBS’s “Face The Nation” program, McCaul said the Chinese balloon was a “sophisticated spy balloon” that “went […]

Communist China’s new claim that the United States sent 10 balloons into its territory throughout last year is being dismissed by U.S. officials as false. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin asserted during a Feb. 13 press conference that U.S. balloons illegally entered Chinese airspace 10 times throughout 2022. The claim was immediately dismissed by National […]

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said U.S. officials believe the two objects that were shot down over U.S. and Canadian territory were balloons. Citing a briefing from White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, Sullivan told ABC News’ “This Week” that the administration believes the objects were “much smaller” than the Chinese spy balloon that was […]

Questions about the Chinese spy balloon are shifting. Officials are now asking exactly who made it. Beijing insists that the downed balloon was a civilian airship for weather research. But the Chinese regime never specified which firm it belonged to. An article found on Chinese Internet portal NetEase lists a number of companies, all of […]

The Biden administration is adding six Chinese entities to an export blacklist—each of them with connections to Beijing’s suspected surveillance balloon program. Among them are five companies and a research institute. The Commerce Department said it blacklisted them for supporting “China’s military modernization efforts,” specifically aerospace programs run by China’s military that involve “airships and […]

Christopher C. Miller, who served as the acting secretary of defense during President Donald Trump’s last days in office, has said the American public is getting “Orwellian tap dancing” from the current administration about the Chinese high-altitude balloon that drifted across the United States last week and may have surveilled the country. The high-altitude balloon […]

Former Acting Secretary of Defense, Chris Miller, spoke with NTD to share his take on the Chinese spy balloon, among other things.

The House of Representatives on Feb. 9 overwhelmingly agreed to a resolution condemning the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) use of a spy balloon over the United States. The measure, introduced by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas), passed on a 419–0 vote. H. Res. 104 decries “the Chinese Communist Party’s use of a high-altitude […]

Republican senators raised concerns that U.S. manufacturing might have assisted in the construction of the Chinese spy balloon that flew over the continental United States for days before being shot down. Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) took part in an all-senators classified briefing on Feb. 9, held by officials from the Office […]

President Joe Biden said Thursday that he had no regrets that the Chinese spy balloon that traversed the United States wasn’t shot down sooner, saying that he doesn’t consider it to be a “major breach.” “I said I wanted it shot down as soon as possible, and they were worried about the damage that could […]

Rick Fisher, senior fellow at International Assessment and Strategy Center, discusses Chinese spy balloons and whether they can carry weapons.  

A military balloon can do much more than just collecting intel. John Mills, a Retired Army Colonel, and former Director of Cybersecurity for the U.S. Defense Department, to find out what they’re really capable of.  

The United States shared information with 40 nations about the Chinese spy balloon shot down. The balloon drifted across Canada and the continental U.S. before it was shot down by a U.S. fighter jet. In an unusual move, America’s top diplomat and the head of the world biggest military alliance appeared together at a press […]

China-affairs commentator Jennifer Zeng talks about the sentiment in Beijing and on the ground in China, following the CCP spy balloon incident.

New details emerge on the Chinese surveillance balloon. What was it capable of as it hovered over the United States? And what do senators say after being briefed by White House officials? In Florida, President Joe Biden is bashing what he calls a GOP plan to cut Social Security. But Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) calls […]

Republicans are reacting with disapproval following a hearing which examined the Biden DoD’s response to a Chinese spy balloon that traversed the continental United States last week. Pentagon officials testified before a Senate Appropriations Defense hearing on Feb. 9, where they defended the department’s decision not to engage with China’s high-altitude surveillance balloon for an […]

Most of the debris from the Chinese spy balloon shot down by the U.S. military last week is still lying in the ocean. The FBI has so far recovered very limited physical evidence from the Chinese surveillance balloon shot down off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4, and senior FBI officials said that […]

House members received a briefing on the Chinese spy balloon on Thursday. It includes top-secret information with details on intelligence sources and methods. Grant Newsham, a retired U.S. Marine officer, told NTD that this briefing will convey the risks and capabilities of the craft. Newsham also said that the briefing will cover Beijing’s broader surveillance […]

The revelations from the House-wide closed-door briefing about the Chinese spy balloon did nothing to reassure Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) about the steps the United States took to handle the incident. In a conversation after the classified briefing on Feb. 9 morning, Higgins said he was “surprised” and “shocked at what I was hearing of […]

Truth Social CEO and former Congressman Devin Nunes speaks with Newsmakers to offer his opinion on the Chinese spy balloon situation and the Biden administration’s response to it.

U.S. Defense officials are under fire for their decision to allow a Chinese spy balloon to traverse the continental United States. Lawmakers told members of the defense community that they would be held accountable should Congress find fault with the Department of Defense’s (DOD) decision-making during a Senate Appropriations Defense hearing on the issue of […]

NewsMakers sits down with Gordon Chang, a distinguished senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute and a member of its Advisory Board, to provide an analysis of the CCP spy balloon and why it’s so important to American security.

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said that a Chinese spy balloon that traveled over the United States went past a B-2 stealth bomber base but claimed the Department of Defense took steps to protect its assets from Chinese surveillance. “All of our strategic assets—we were, made sure that we were buttoned down and movement was limited […]

The Chinese spy balloon that flew over the United States for days before being shot down could monitor communications signals, a U.S. official says. “High resolution imagery from U-2 flybys revealed that the high-altitude balloon was capable of conducting signals intelligence collection operations,” an official with the State Department, speaking on condition of anonymity, told […]

Tensions between Washington and Beijing have soared since the balloon’s appearance and a new factor could signal more incidents to come. Dozens of Chinese documents have surfaced, pointing to surging interest in using balloon technology for military purposes. Beijing’s foreign ministry says the balloon was used for scientific purposes and simply blew off course. Publicly […]

The spy balloon that China sent over U.S. airspace has many lawmakers concerned. What was the Chinese regime trying to achieve by sending it? NTD spoke to Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, for his take. McCaul says the communist regime poses a threat to the United States and the […]

Gordon Chang, author of “The Coming Collapse of China,” analyzes the Chinese spy balloon found floating over the United States and what it signifies, along with what to make of President Joe Biden’s response. Truth Social CEO and former congressman Devin Nunes talks to Newsmakers about allegations that President Donald Trump was not told that […]

Multiple Congressional staffers have confirmed to The Epoch Times that Congressional representatives will be briefed on the morning of Feb. 9 regarding the Chinese spy balloon that flew over the United States last week. The meeting comes after days of debate between Republicans and Democrats about how the Biden administration addressed the craft and the […]

The United States is sharing information about China’s spy balloon program with dozens of nations after discovering a worldwide surveillance campaign led by the communist regime. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made the announcement of the intelligence sharing during a joint press conference with NATO Secretary-General Jen Stoltenberg at the Department of State in Washington […]

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said that there will be a classified briefing on the Chinese spy balloon for all senators on Feb. 9.

House lawmakers are reportedly considering rolling out a bipartisan resolution aimed at condemning China over its suspected surveillance balloon that was shot down by the United States on Feb. 3. “We want it to be a bipartisan resolution about China, not about us fighting each other,” Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), the chairman of the House Foreign […]

The alleged Chinese spy balloon has been shot down, but the questions surrounding it are still hovering over the United States. The White House speaks on whether China will send more balloons.

U.S. Northern Command (NORCOM) released the first photos of efforts to recover a Chinese spy balloon on Monday evening, days after it was shot down near the Carolinas. Photos captured by U.S. military personnel show forces attempting to recover debris from the balloon on Sunday evening. A large piece of the balloon itself was seen […]

The Chinese spy balloon recently shot down could have been used as a dry-run for an attack, according to Paul Crespo, the president of the Center for American Defense Studies. Those could be electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attacks. NTD spoke to Nicholas Eftimiades, a retired senior intelligence officer, who says the balloon’s most likely purpose was […]

President Joe Biden said China’s decision to fly a high-altitude balloon over the United States raises a question of where we can still work with China and where the two countries will be opposed. U.S. Air Force fighter jets shot the balloon down off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday after it had flown […]

Arthur Herman, Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute, gives his take on the alleged Chinese spy balloon shot down by U.S. fighter jets.  

BlackOps Partners Corporation CEO Casey Fleming tells NTD that the United States is currently engaged in World War III, and the Chinese regime’s spy balloon marks a serious escalation in that war.

NTD spoke with Bill Gertz, national security correspondent for The Washington Times, to discuss the Chinese spy balloon. Gertz is a 20-year expert on the Chinese communist regime and the author of eight books on national security. Gertz offers his insights into the spy balloon incident, overall U.S.-China policy, and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s upcoming […]

NTD spoke with Rick Fisher about the Chinese spy balloon. He’s a military expert and a senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center.  

The White House is now claiming Chinese spy balloons hovered over the United States during the Trump administration. What new details do we know about the balloon, as the former president fires back? There’s just one more day until President Joe Biden delivers his State of the Union Address. We take a look at his […]

News Analysis The Chinese spy balloon that navigated through U.S. and Canadian airspace for a week before being shot down may have been conducting reconnaissance for a potential conflict with the United States, though experts believe its mission is only just beginning to be understood. When the spy balloon first entered U.S. airspace over Alaska’s […]

A top U.S. general charged with monitoring the nation’s airspace said that the military did not detect previous incursions into its airspace by Chinese spy balloons. Air Force Gen. Glen VanHerck, who serves as commander of NORAD, said that Chinese spy balloons previously entered U.S. airspace undetected on at least three occasions during the Trump […]

Chinese state-owned television aired footage of a high-altitude balloon dropping hypersonic weapons in 2018. The stunning footage displays a high-altitude balloon, not dissimilar from the one that traversed over the United States last week, carrying three hypersonic glide vehicles (HGVs) into high altitude and dropping them for testing. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported on the […]

Former national security adviser John Bolton said that it would be problematic if alleged Chinese spy balloons transited over the United States under the Trump administration without federal officials being notified at the time. There were a flurry of reports over the weekend, citing allegedly anonymous U.S. officials, that claimed Chinese balloons flew over the […]

Chinese authorities have confirmed that the balloon that was spotted over Latin America this past weekend is Chinese. Officials in Colombia confirmed a sighting of an airborne object similar to a balloon flying over its territory, in a statement on Saturday, Feb. 4. According to the statement from the Colombian military, its air defense service detected the object, described as similar to […]

Possible debris from a suspected Chinese spy balloon that was shot down by U.S. officials on Feb. 4 appears to have been seen at a boat ramp in the North Myrtle Beach area in South Carolina. Video footage shared on Twitter, taken from the Johnny Causey Landing—a boat ramp located at the beach—appears to show parts of the […]

Republican senators have criticized President Joe Biden over his handling of the Chinese spy balloon, but Democrats in the Senate said the criticism is unfounded. The balloon was shot down off the coast of South Carolina by a U.S. fighter jet on Feb. 4, after having flown over several Midwest states. According to the Pentagon, […]

Officials in Colombia confirmed a sighting of an airborne object similar to a balloon flying over its territory, although it’s not clear if it’s of Chinese origin. In a statement Saturday as U.S. officials shot down a Chinese spy balloon near the Carolina coastline, the Colombian military said its air defense service “detected an object above […]

Former President Donald Trump responded to claims that Chinese regime spy balloons entered U.S. airspace during his administration, saying such alleged events “never happened.” An anonymous U.S. Defense Department official said over the weekend that spy balloons transited over U.S. territory under the Trump administration. But Trump, in a Fox News interview on Sunday, pushed […]

Local officials in North and South Carolina issued warnings to locals not to touch a suspected Chinese spy balloon that was shot down by U.S. jets over the Atlantic Ocean. If debris from the balloon washes ashore, people should contact local authorities. Warnings were issued by local municipalities over the weekend after the balloon went […]

Several former military officials said that the United States could face significant shortfalls if there is ever a conflict with the Chinese regime over Taiwan, coming as U.S. military jets shot down a Chinese spy balloon that drifted across the United States. “Unfortunately, talking broadly and in overall terms, the Chinese have dramatically increased their […]

New video footage posted online shows the moment a U.S. military aircraft shot down a Chinese spy balloon near the South Carolina coast on Saturday. Videos posted to social media showed what appeared to be a fighter jet circling around the balloon before it shot the balloon down. In another video posted to Twitter, a […]

The U.S. military has started a recovery mission for the Chinese spy balloon shot down by a U.S. fighter jet on Saturday afternoon, according to the Pentagon. Several U.S. Navy and Coastal vessels established a security perimeter where the balloon fell, about six nautical miles off the coast of South Carolina, and were searching for […]

The Chinese surveillance balloon drifting east toward the Atlantic Ocean has been shot down by the U.S. military and is now falling into the sea, video shows. Television footage showed the balloon deflating before dropping toward the water around 2:40 p.m. U.S. military jets were visible flying in the vicinity, and ships were deployed in […]

President Joe Biden on Feb. 4 said the United States is going to “take care of” the spy balloon that has been allowed to fly over the country. “We’re going to take care of it,” Biden told reporters after Air Force One landed at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in Syracuse, New York. Biden, who […]

Montana officials have issued a statement saying that reports of a “massive explosion” taking place in the sky near where a Chinese spy balloon was spotted are inaccurate after a video went viral on social media purporting to show several blasts in the sky over Billings and what could be debris falling to the ground. […]

NTD spoke with Frank Gaffney, executive chairman of the Center for Security Policy, for his take on the Chinese spy balloon, and why the United States hasn’t shot it down.

A second Chinese spy balloon is currently traversing Latin America, Pentagon confirmed late on Feb. 3 amid rising concern about a Chinese surveillance balloon hovering eastward across the continental United States. “We are seeing reports of a balloon transiting Latin America. We now assess it is another Chinese surveillance balloon,” Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. […]

The Pentagon said on Feb. 3 that a Chinese spy balloon had moved eastward and was over the central United States, and that the United States rejected China’s claims that it was not being used for surveillance. The Chinese regime claimed that the balloon was a weather research “airship” that had blown off course. “We […]

A Chinese spy balloon has still been hovering over the center of the continental United States, according to the Pentagon spokesperson. But the Chinese communist regime says it’s some type of civilian weather research gone awry. NTD spoke with Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, to learn more.

The White House revealed that President Joe Biden learned about the Chinese spy balloon three days ago. What’s the latest, and will the United States ultimately shoot it down? To weigh in on the Chinese spy balloon, as well as what the Chinese Communist Party is up to on the ground in the United States, we […]

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) requested a “Gang of Eight” classified briefing on Feb. 2, after the Pentagon announced that it had been tracking a suspected Chinese spy balloon floating over the United States. A spokesperson for Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told news outlets late Friday that the Biden administration is set to hold the […]

WASHINGTON—A Chinese spy balloon has changed course and is now floating eastward at about 60,000 feet (18,300 meters) over the central United States, demonstrating a capability to maneuver, the U.S. military said on Friday, in the latest twist to a spying saga that led U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to postpone a visit to […]

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is postponing a trip to Beijing after the Pentagon detected a Chinese “high altitude surveillance balloon” hovering over the nation’s west, with an official describing the intrusion as a “clear violation” of sovereignty. “After consultations with our interagency partners as well as with Congress, we have concluded that the conditions […]

Canada announced on Thursday it is coordinating with the United States to track a spy balloon high above the earth and that it was also monitoring a “potential second incident.” Canada’s Department of National Defence announced that the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD)—a combined organization of the United States and Canada—is actively tracking a “high-altitude surveillance […]

The U.S. military is currently tracking a suspected Chinese spy balloon over Montana, according to multiple reports. “The United States Government has detected and is tracking a high altitude surveillance balloon that is over the continental United States right now,” said Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder in a statement. The high-altitude surveillance balloon […]