The Pentagon says it has spotted a Chinese spy balloon hovering over Montana

Live updates: US shot down Chinese spy balloon.

WASHINGTON — The United States has spotted what is believed to be a Chinese surveillance balloon hovering over the northwestern United States, the Pentagon said Thursday, a discovery that comes days before Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken’s visit to Beijing.

President Biden has decided not to launch the balloon for the time being after Pentagon officials recommended that doing so would risk debris hitting people on the ground, according to a senior defense official who was not authorized to speak publicly.

The decision to make the discovery public appears to alert China ahead of Mr Blinken’s visit to Beijing – the first by a US Secretary of State in six years – when he is expected to meet with President Xi Jinping. The balloon’s sudden appearance is bound to increase the already escalating tensions between the two powers.

The official said that while it is not the first time China has sent spy balloons to the United States, it appears that the balloon stayed over the country longer. But a senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the balloon posed no military or physical threat, adding that it had limited intelligence-gathering value. Another defense official said the Pentagon doesn’t think the balloon has much added value over what China can tell from satellite imagery.

Pentagon officials said the balloon had traveled from China to the Aleutian Islands in Alaska and through northwestern Canada over the past few days before arriving somewhere above Montana, where it was hovering on Wednesday.

Canada’s Department of Defense said in a brief statement late Thursday that the movements of a high-altitude surveillance balloon were being “actively tracked” by the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which is part of the US-Canada military partnership. It added that the country’s intelligence agencies are working with American partners to “take all necessary measures to protect Canada’s sensitive information from foreign intelligence threats.”

“Canadians are safe and Canada is taking steps to ensure the safety of its airspace, including monitoring for a possible second incident,” the statement said, without elaborating.

The Department of Defense did not explain where or when the balloon was sighted, where it might be headed, or if it was the same balloon that appeared high above Montana. It also didn’t explain the reference to a “possible second incident.” Department officials did not immediately respond to emails or phone calls seeking clarification.

After initially telling a news conference that it needed to review claims about the balloon, China’s foreign ministry on Friday said it was a harmless mistake.

“The airship is from China. It is a civilian airship used for research purposes, mainly meteorological purposes,” an unnamed ministry spokesman said in a statement on its website. “Influenced by the westerly winds and with limited self-piloting ability, the airship has deviated far from its planned course. The Chinese side regrets the accidental intrusion of the airship into US airspace Force majeure‘, which refers to a breach caused by forces beyond a party’s control.

It was unclear what China was looking for in Montana, but the state is home to the 341st Missile Squadron at Malmstrom Air Force Base, one of three American air bases that operate and maintain ICBMs.

Brig. Pentagon press secretary General Patrick S. Ryder told reporters that the balloon flew “well above commercial air travel,” adding that “the U.S. government acted immediately to protect itself from the collection of sensitive information once the balloon has been spotted. ” He did not specify which measures are involved.

The Pentagon sent F-22 fighter jets to pursue the balloon on Wednesday, causing flights at Billings Airport to be temporarily halted, the senior defense official said, but decided against shooting down the balloon.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III called a meeting of senior military and defense officials Wednesday to discuss how to handle the situation, officials said.

Senior officials in the Biden administration made urgent calls to their Chinese counterparts through multiple channels, conveying the seriousness of the issue, the senior defense official said during a briefing at the Pentagon.

China has several satellites orbiting about 300 miles above the earth. Like American spy satellites, the Chinese satellites can take pictures and monitor weapon launches, officials said. Both countries have a history of spying on one another; American officials visiting China on diplomatic missions routinely expect their conversations to be monitored.

The Pentagon noted that the spy balloon “didn’t provide anything that ‘other’ Chinese collections didn’t already provide them,” Michael P. Mulroy, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense, CIA officer and Marine, said in a text message. “It was probably a reference to Chinese spy satellites.”

The revelation comes as tensions rise between Beijing and Washington. On Thursday, the Department of Defense said the US military was Expanding its presence in the Philippinespart of what military analysts said was an attempt to limit China’s armed forces and bolster the United States’ ability to defend Taiwan.

The Biden administration has aggressively sought to scrutinize China’s ability to advance its technological and military ambitions, drawing harsh rebukes from Beijing. The Russian invasion of Ukraine – and what US officials see as China’s revealing attitude point out – has also strained the relationships. But by far the most tense issue between the two powers is Taiwan.

Mr. Blinken has gathered allies and partners to denounce China’s actions in Taiwan. At the same time, he is a supporter of Mr Biden’s goal of maintaining open channels of communication with China to avoid deteriorating relations.

Lawmakers were quick to urge the Biden administration to vigorously counter any threat.

“China’s brazen disregard for US sovereignty is a destabilizing action that needs to be addressed, and President Biden cannot remain silent,” spokesman Kevin McCarthy, California Republican, said in one Twitter post.

In a joint statement, Rep. Mike Gallagher, a Wisconsin Republican, and Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat from Illinois, said, “The Chinese Communist Party should not have on-demand access to American airspace.” The two added that the incident showed that the China’s threat “is not confined to distant shores – it is at home here and we must act to counter this threat”.

On the ground in Montana, Jeffrey Sherlock, a retired district judge in Helena, agreed that the balloon was a “provocative” move. But he was also surprised that the Chinese were interested in his part of the country.

“I can’t believe you’re spying on Billings, Mont,” he said. “There isn’t much.”

Edward Wong And Julian Barnes contributed reporting from Washington, Mike Ive from Seoul and Jim Robbins by Helena, Mont.