New reports reveal that a Chinese spy ship that flew to the US earlier this year communicated with mainland China through an American internet provider.
Two current and one former Biden administration officials told NBC News in a report Thursday that the ship used a US internet provider to receive primarily navigational communications.
NBC News did not name the internet provider in the report.
The company denies that Chinese spycraft are using its services and has reached that conclusion through its own investigation and talks with US officials.
An official said the spy craft, which was shot down by the US military off the coast of South Carolina on February 4, used high-bandwidth data collection known as burst transmission to transmit information.
The report also said the Biden administration asked the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for a top-secret order to gather intelligence on the ship as it flew to several states.
The officials said the order would allow the government to monitor the spy craft’s communications during its journey.
Several officials said in the report that, in the past, China secretly used commercial internet providers in different countries as backup communications networks.
Encrypted networks are often sought after for their security.
Chinese embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu claimed to NBC News that the ship was a weather balloon that drifted off course.
“As we have explained before, the airship, which was used for meteorological research, accidentally drifted to the US due to its western terrain and limited self-navigation capability,” Liu said.
Two current Biden administration officials and one former Biden administration official told NBC News in a report Thursday that the ship used a US internet provider to receive primarily navigational communications. Reuters
“The facts are clear.”
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment to Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and the Chinese Embassy for comment.
NBC News did not name the internet provider in the report. via REUTERS
Although Biden administration officials assured the American public that the Chinese spy balloons did not collect and transmit data, the previously unreported phone calls paint a different picture of top officials withholding information about the balloons.
According to NBC News, a phone call on Jan. 27 between President Biden’s top military adviser, Gen. Mark Milley, and NORAD chief Gen. Glen VanHerck sheds new light on China’s surveillance balloons.
The network also reported that the administration initially hoped to keep the balloon’s existence a secret from Congress and the public, citing several former and current administration and congressional officials.
The company denies that Chinese spycraft are using its services and has reached that conclusion through its own investigation and talks with US officials. Reuters
“Before it was detected publicly, there was an intention to study it and let it pass and never tell anyone about it,” a former senior US official told NBC.
A senior Biden administration official denied allegations of an attempt to cover up the incident, saying the decision was made to protect sensitive intelligence capabilities.
Fox News Digital’s Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
