Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Hamas: We hold occupation fully responsible for activists' safety, and call on UN and international organizations to condemn this crime.
Hamas: We salute the free people of multiple nationalities who stood headstrong against threats, confirming that Gaza does not stand alone.
Hamas: Interception of Madleen mid-sea is organized state terrorism, a flagrant violation of international law, and an assault on civilian volunteers.
Reuters: Injuries reported in explosion at Kadena Air Base in Japan
Israeli media: The Israeli army took control of the Madleen ship and arrested the activists.
Freedom Flotilla Coalition: IOF have boarded the Madleen ship and communication with the ship was lost.
Israeli media: The Israeli occupation forces have begun storming the Madleen.
Reuters: The Freedom Flotilla Coalition sounds the alarm on the Madleen ship heading to Gaza in anticipation of being intercepted by the Israeli occupation.
Israeli media: Finance Minister Smotrich announces the opening and commencement of construction of a new settlement in Jabal Abu Rubin, near Beitunia in the West Bank.
Local Syrian sources to Al Mayadeen: Clashes between local fighters and Israeli occupation soldiers around the Maariyah barracks in the far western Daraa countryside.

US to keep, study and 'exploit' Chinese 'spy' balloon debris: Sullivan

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 7 Feb 2023 13:40
3 Min Read

The US National Security Advisor confirms briefing officials from the previous Trump administration for cooperation on studying the Chinese research balloon that was shot down on Saturday.

  • x
  • US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan speaking in May 2022 at the White House (AFP)
    US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan speaking in May 2022 at the White House (AFP)

The US is intent on not only keeping the debris of the Chinese balloon but to "exploit what we recover and learn even more than we have learned", US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Monday. 

During his speech at the US Global Leadership Coalition summit, he added that members of the US Navy and Coast Guard were on their way to recover the debris of the balloon following its shoot-down. 

Read next: Previous Chinese 'spy' balloons went undetected while in US airspace

Sullivan’s remarks were cited by the coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council, John Kirby, in a briefing on Monday, "Our efforts to surveil this balloon and what we’re going to learn from the recovery will prove to be valuable,” he said.

Kirby added that “The time that we have to study this balloon... will give us a lot more clarity not only on the capabilities that these balloons have but what China is trying to do with them," as he rejected the possibility of discussing whether Chinese President Xi Jinping was aware of the balloon before its existence became public. 
 
".... We have reached out to key officials from the previous administration and offered them briefings on the forensics that we did and expressed our willingness to walk them through what we learned. And I think that’s kind of where I need to leave that one," Kirby concluded. 

Biden first president to shoot down balloon

Related News

White House listed Tucker Carlson as potential TikTok investor: FT

US immigrants held in appalling conditions at Djibouti base: Intercept

A senior military official confirmed that the DoD, the FBI, and “counter-intelligence authorities ” are on “a collaborative effort” to aid in “categorizing and assessing the platform [at the debris site] itself."

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said afterward, "... at the direction of President Biden, U.S. fighter aircraft assigned to U.S. Northern Command successfully brought down the high altitude surveillance balloon launched by and belonging to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) over the water off the coast of South Carolina in US airspace."

Austin stated that the balloon had been used by China in efforts to "surveil strategic sites" in the US.

Read next: Beijing says balloon over Latin America belongs to China

According to Sullivan, it took a while to shoot down the balloon because White House officials wanted to rule out possible injury on the ground first and stressed that: "The first time any American president ordered a shoot down of any of these balloons was on Saturday, when Joe Biden did it."

The balloon was located over the North American Aerospace Defense Command on January 28 over Alaska, before it was found floating over missile sites in Montana. Days later, after tracking, the US decided to shoot it down over the South Carolina coast. 

The Chinese Foreign Ministry stated on Saturday that "China... never violated the territory and airspace of any sovereign country," adding that "some politicians and media in the United States used the (balloon) incident as a pretext to attack and smear China."

In light of the balloon shoot-down and China's response of possible retaliation, Kirby assured that no reason exists to escalate tensions between the US and China over the balloon and that Secretary of State Antony Blinken's trip to China "was postponed, it was not canceled,” 

  • US
  • China
  • Jake Sullivan
  • John Kirby
  • balloon

Most Read

The logo of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence (wikidata)

Iran acquired thousands of sensitive Israeli documents: Exclusive

  • Politics
  • 7 Jun 2025
A Palestinian woman mourns as she embraces the body of her daughter Mayar Abu Odeh, 8, who was killed in an Israeli army strike on Gaza. at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (AP)

French port workers block arms shipment to 'Israel' amid Gaza genocide

  • Politics
  • 4 Jun 2025
New Syrian group claims Golan strike, vows resistance to 'Israel'

New Syrian group claims Golan strike, vows resistance to 'Israel'

  • Politics
  • 4 Jun 2025
Iranian demonstrators walk on a caricature of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the annual Quds Day rally in support of Palestinians, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, March 28, 2025 (AP)

Iran hits 'Israel' hard without arms; intel breach lays Tel Aviv bare

  • Politics
  • 7 Jun 2025

Coverage

All
War on Gaza

Read Next

All
Climate activist Greta Thunberg, center, waits to board the Madleen boat, before setting sail for Gaza along with activists of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, departing from the Sicilian port of Catania, Italy, Sunday, June 1, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Gaza aid vessel vows to continue until final moment

A view of the Knesset through the entrance window. (Agencies)
Politics

Haredi parties push for Knesset dissolution, call PM 'a burden'

Palestinians carry the body of Ahmed Abu Hilal, who was killed while on his way to an aid hub in Gaza, during his funeral in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Sunday, June 8, 2025 (AP)
Politics

US 'aid centers' in Gaza are deadly traps: Palestinian Resistance

An aerial view shows sections of the columns in the ancient city of Palmyra, Syria, Saturday, January 25, 2025 (AP)
Arts and Culture

Syria’s ancient sites looted as artifacts flood online markets

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS