WASHINGTON: Citing data from US U-2 spy planes, the Biden administration claimed on Thursday that the Chinese balloon shot down by the US was gathering intelligence signals as part of a massive military-linked aerial surveillance programme. Was equipped to detect and collect, which targeted more. more than 40 countries.

The People's Liberation Army is in charge of a fleet of balloons that are used exclusively for espionage and equipped with state-of-the-art technology to collect personal information from targets around the world, according to the US. The administration claims that similar balloons have flown in five continents.

The most specific information linking China's military to the balloon that the US shot down over the Atlantic Ocean last weekend was provided in a statement from a senior State Department official.

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The scope and capabilities of the program were described publicly to counter China's steadfast denials that the balloons were used for espionage, including a claim made on Thursday that the American balloons " alleges to amount to "information warfare".

The House of Representatives on Capitol Hill unanimously passed a resolution condemning China's "brazen violations" of US sovereignty and its efforts to "deceive the international community through false claims about its intelligence collection operations". Republicans have criticized President Joe Biden for not deflating the balloon quickly enough, but it was voted in favor 419-0 by lawmakers from both parties.

Before the US released its updated information, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning reiterated her country's insistence that the large unmanned balloon was a civilian meteorological airship that had strayed and that the US "overreacted" by shooting it down. It was

Mao commented, "This is irresponsible. The most recent allegations" may be a part of the US side's information war against China, she claimed.

The Pentagon reported that China's defense minister's refusal to take Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's call on Saturday to discuss the balloon issue highlighted the tense situation. Antony Blinken, the Secretary of State, postponed a weekend trip to Beijing.

China's version of events was categorically denied by the US, which claimed that footage of the balloon captured by American U-2 spy planes flying over the country demonstrated that it was carrying several antennas, other equipment Was "capable of gathering signals intelligence". It is intended to upload sensitive information, and solar panels to power it.

According to Jedediah Royal, assistant secretary of defense for the Indo-Pacific region, who testified before the Senate Appropriations subcommittee, the US military has "some pretty good estimates" of what China was looking for. A classified setting was estimated to obtain more details.

Only a few pieces of the balloon had arrived at the FBI's Quantico, Virginia laboratory for testing, according to senior FBI officials who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity in accordance with guidelines established by the bureau.

Investigators currently have wiring, "a very small amount of electronics" and pieces of the balloon's canopy. "It was too early for us to assess what the intent was and how the device was functioning," the official said.

Balloon recovery efforts were temporarily halted on Thursday due to high seas, according to two US officials. He reported that over the past day and a half, divers had found potentially valuable equipment and recovered some intact balloon debris from the ocean floor.

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A second official claimed that parts of the recovered equipment had markings or writing in English, although it was unclear whether they had come from the United States or another English-speaking country. The official claimed that the more complex parts recovered did not have clear markings.

According to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the situation, most of the debris is concentrated in two separate parts of a site that is 15 football fields long and 15 fields wide.

An analysis of the balloon's wreckage, a State Department official explained to reporters via email, under the condition of anonymity, was "inconsistent" with China's claim that it was a weather balloon that deviated from its intended path. had gone astray.

According to the official, the US is in contact with the nations that have been selected to discuss the extent of China's surveillance program and is examining possible measures that "support balloon intrusions into US airspace."

The US is confident that the company that made the balloon that was shot down on Saturday has "a direct relationship with China's military and is an approved vendor of the" army, the official claimed. The official provided data from an official PLA procurement portal as proof of the company's affiliation.

Ned Price, a spokesman for the State Department, declined to mention the other nations that the US claims have also been targeted. He also declined to say how the US discovered that China had invaded those nations' territory, claiming that doing so would jeopardise intelligence sources and techniques.

Multiple administration officials appeared before congressional committees to answer questions about the balloon as part of what appeared to be a coordinated administration response, which included the release of new information.

Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that officials had studied and examined the balloon and its equipment and had taken "all necessary steps to protect sensitive information."

Sherman said, referring to the People's Republic of China as a threat, "We will continue to respond to the dangers posed by the PRC with determination and resolve." "We will make it very clear to the PRC that violations of both our and other nations' sovereignty are not acceptable."

When the balloon was not shot down over sparsely populated areas of Alaska, lawmakers repeatedly pressed administration officials, including Pentagon military leaders, during a separate Senate subcommittee hearing. They also questioned whether permitting the balloon to pass through such a wide area established a standard for future spying activities by China and other countries.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said that it "defies belief that there was not a single opportunity to safely shoot this spy balloon prior to the coast of South Carolina." The Pentagon or other sensitive locations and populated areas would be subject to Chinese surveillance balloon flights, according to the administration's logic.

The US wanted to prevent any injuries or fatalities from the debris field if the balloon was shot down over Alaska, according to Melissa Dalton, assistant defence secretary of Homeland Defense, and Lt. Gen. Doug Sims, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

They also noted that shooting it down over the area's icy, frigid waters would have made it more challenging and hazardous to recover the pieces for additional investigation.

The US government has previously criticised the People's Liberation Army in public for alleged misdeeds. In 2014, the Obama administration's Justice Department indicted five alleged PLA hackers in a first-of-its-kind prosecution for allegedly hacking into major American companies' computer networks.

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The US wanted to prevent any injuries or fatalities from the debris field if the balloon was shot down over Alaska, according to Melissa Dalton, assistant defence secretary of Homeland Defense, and Lt. Gen. Doug Sims, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. They also noted that shooting it down over the area's icy, frigid waters would have made it more challenging and hazardous to recover the pieces for additional investigation. 

The US government has previously criticised the People's Liberation Army in public for alleged misdeeds. In 2014, the Justice Department of the Obama administration indicted five alleged PLA hackers in a first-of-its-kind case for allegedly hacking into the computer networks of significant American corporations in an effort to steal trade secrets.