‘Spy balloon’ spotted over Latin America is for ‘civilian usage’, China says

Published

3 years ago

February 6, 2023

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A suspected surveillance balloon spotted over Latin America is for “civilian usage” and entered the region’s airspace by accident, a Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman has said.

The balloon has been spotted after US fighter jets shot down an initial suspected Chinese spying device off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said in her regular briefing on Monday that the US should handle the spying saga in a calm, proper manner without the use of force.

Beijing also urged Washington not to escalate the issue or take further action to harm its interests.

Speaking about the initial suspected Chinese spy balloon that was seen over the US last week, Ms Mao said on Monday that the “civilian airship” had drifted into US skies in an “isolated and accidental incident caused by force majeure”.

She said: “China is a responsible country, and we’ve always strictly abided by international laws and respected the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries.

“History has proven that it is the US that has often violated international laws, invaded the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries.

“We have stated that this is completely an isolated and accidental incident caused by force majeure, but the US still hyped up the incident on purpose and even used force to launch an attack. This is an unacceptable and irresponsible action.”

US President Joe Biden ordered the suspected spy balloon to be brought down, with a defence official saying China intended to use it to gather information from sensitive military sites.

Ms Mao said on Monday that the shooting down of the balloon was an “obvious overreaction”.

Meanwhile, Colombia’s military said on Sunday that it had sighted an airborne object similar to a balloon.

Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder confirmed over the weekend that a second balloon from China was being tracked.

He said: “We are seeing reports of a balloon transiting Latin America. We now assess it is another Chinese surveillance balloon.”

Ms Mao said on Monday that the balloon is for civilian purposes with limited self-steering capabilities.

A desire to save face could make this costly saga escalate further

The fact China has now admitted to being responsible for two balloons flying across the Americas casts further doubt on its official explanation.

The saga has already had significant diplomatic costs. A scheduled visit by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to Beijing that was part of efforts on both sides to prevent further deterioration in relations between the two superpowers has been postponed.

It is unclear if China will respond further, it is possible it would now prefer the incident to just fizzle out.

The fear is that public pressure or a desire to save face may prompt further action.

The foreign ministry spokeswoman said: “As for the balloon in Latin America’s sky, we have learned and verified that the relevant unmanned airship is from China. It is of civilian usage and is used for flight tests.

“Affected by weather and due to limited self-control ability, the airship severely deviated from its set route and entered the space of Latin America and the Caribbean by accident.”

“China is a responsible country and has always abided by international laws.” she added, “it won’t pose any threats to any country. Relevant parties have also expressed understanding of this”.

The drama over the balloons has further strained tense relations, prompting Washington to cancel a planned visit to Beijing by Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The US Navy is working to recover the balloon and its payload and the Coast Guard is providing security for the operation, General Glen VanHerck, commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command and US Northern Command, said on Sunday.

A successful recovery could potentially give the United States insight into China’s spying capabilities, although US
officials have downplayed the balloon’s impact on national security.

The row also comes after the US and China have been seeking to bolster communications and begin to mend ties that had been under severe strain in recent years over tensions on several fronts, including US efforts to block Chinese access to key cutting-edge technologies.

World

What’s it like with the National Guard on the streets of DC?

Published

11 hours ago

August 22, 2025

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What's it like with the National Guard on the streets of DC?

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What’s it like on the streets of DC right now, as thousands of federal police patrol the streets?

Who is Steve Witkoff, the US envoy regularly meeting Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu to broker peace in Ukraine and Gaza?

And why is Californian Governor Gavin Newsom now tweeting like Donald Trump?

Martha Kelner and Mark Stone answer your questions.

If you’ve also got a question you’d like the Trump100 team to answer, you can email it to trump100@sky.uk.

You can also watch all episodes on our YouTube channel.

World

It’s been a confusing week – and Trump’s been made to look weak

Published

11 hours ago

August 22, 2025

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It’s been a confusing week.

The Monday gathering of European leaders and Ukraine’s president with Donald Trump at the White House was highly significant.

Ukraine latest: Trump changes tack

The leaders went home buoyed by the knowledge that they’d finally convinced the American president not to abandon Europe. He had committed to provide American “security guarantees” to Ukraine.

The details were sketchy, and sketched out only a little more through the week (we got some noise about American air cover), but regardless, the presidential commitment represented a clear shift from months of isolationist rhetoric on Ukraine – “it’s Europe’s problem” and all the rest of it.

Yet it was always the case that, beyond that clear achievement for the Europeans, Russia would have a problem with it.

Trump’s envoy’s language last weekend – claiming that Putin had agreed to Europe providing “Article 5-like” guarantees for Ukraine, essentially providing it with a NATO-like collective security blanket – was baffling.

Russia gives two fingers to the president

And throughout this week, Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has repeatedly and predictably undermined the whole thing, pointing out that Russia would never accept any peace plan that involved any European or NATO troops in Ukraine.

“The presence of foreign troops in Ukraine is completely unacceptable for Russia,” he said yesterday, echoing similar statements stretching back years.

Remember that NATO’s “eastern encroachment” was the justification for Russia’s “special military operation” – the invasion of Ukraine – in the first place. All this makes Trump look rather weak.

It’s two fingers to the president, though interestingly, the Russian language has been carefully calibrated not to poke Trump but to mock European leaders instead. That’s telling.

The bilateral meeting (between Putin and Zelenskyy) hailed by Trump on Monday as agreed and close – “within two weeks” – looks decidedly doubtful.

Maybe that’s why he went along with Putin’s suggestion that there be a bilateral, not including Trump, first.

It’s easier for the American president to blame someone else if it’s not his meeting, and it doesn’t happen.

NATO defence chiefs met on Wednesday to discuss the details of how the security guarantees – the ones Russia won’t accept – will work.

European sources at the meeting have told me it was all a great success. And to the comments by Lavrov, a source said: “It’s not up to Lavrov to decide on security guarantees. Not up to the one doing the threatening to decide how to deter that threat!”

The argument goes that it’s not realistic for Russia to say from which countries Ukraine can and cannot host troops.

Would Trump threaten force?

The problem is that if Europe and the White House want Russia to sign up to some sort of peace deal, then it would require agreement from all sides on the security arrangements.

The other way to get Russia to heel would be with an overwhelming threat of force. Something from Trump, like: “Vladimir – look what I did to Iran…”. But, of course, Iran isn’t a nuclear power.

Something else bothers me about all this. The core concept of a “security guarantee” is an ironclad obligation to defend Ukraine into the future.

Future guarantees would require treaties, not just a loose promise. I don’t see Trump’s America truly signing up to anything that obliges them to do anything.

A layered security guarantee which builds over time is an option, but from a Kremlin perspective, would probably only end up being a repeat of history and allow them another “justification” to push back.

Image and reality don’t seem to match

Among Trump’s stream of social media posts this week was an image of him waving his finger at Putin in Alaska. It was one of the few non-effusive images from the summit.

He posted it next to an image of former president Richard Nixon confronting Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev – an image that came to reflect American dominance over the Soviet Union.

That may be the image Trump wants to portray. But the events of the past week suggest image and reality just don’t match.

The past 24 hours in Ukraine have been among the most violent to date.

World

At least 17 dead in Colombia after car bombing and helicopter attack

Published

11 hours ago

August 22, 2025

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At least 17 dead in Colombia after car bombing and helicopter attack

At least 17 people were killed after a car bombing and an attack on a police helicopter in Colombia, officials have said.

Authorities in the southwest city of Cali said a vehicle loaded with explosives detonated near a military aviation school, killing five people and injuring more than 30.

Authorities said at least 12 died in the attack on a helicopter transporting personnel to an area in Antioquia in northern Colombia, where they were to destroy coca leaf crops – the raw material used in the production of cocaine.

Antioquia governor Andres Julian said a drone attacked the helicopter as it flew over coca leaf crops.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro attributed both incidents to dissidents of the defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

He said the aircraft was targeted in retaliation for a cocaine seizure that allegedly belonged to the Gulf Clan.

Who are FARC, and are they still active?

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, a Marxist guerrilla organisation, was the largest of the country’s rebel groups, and grew out of peasant self-defence forces.

It was formed in 1964 as the military wing of the Colombian Communist Party, carrying out a series of attacks against political and economic targets.

In 2016, after more than 50 years of civil war, FARC rebels and the Colombian government signed a peace deal.

It officially ceased to be an armed group the following year – but some small dissident groups rejected the agreement and refused to disarm.

According to a report by Colombia’s Truth Commission in 2022, fighting between government forces, FARC, and the militant group National Liberation Army had killed around 450,000 people between 1985 and 2018.

Both FARC dissidents and members of the Gulf Clan operate in Antioquia.

It comes as a report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime found that coca leaf cultivation is on the rise in Colombia.

The area under cultivation reached a record 253,000 hectares in 2023, according to the UN’s latest available report.