The three objects shot down by U.S. fighter pilots over North America since Friday were “almost certainly” launched by China to spy on the United States, Rep. Adam Smith, the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, said Monday.
Smith, D-Wash., in an interview with USA TODAY said that researchers who use balloons typically inform the Federal Aviation Administration before flying them in U.S. airspace. That didn’t happen in the three shot down over the weekend — two over the United States and one over Canada — or the large Chinese surveillance balloon destroyed Feb. 4 off the coast of South Carolina.
“It’s almost certainly a case of the Chinese trying to come up with new or creative ways to spy on us,” Smith said. “We need to respond and block this avenue.”
The first balloon, and the subsequent objects, have raised tensions with China, the world’s second biggest economy after the U.S. and a major global rival to American power across the world.
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There are several possible ways to solve the current situation, Smith said.
One is to tell China to stop doing it, Smith said. An initial attempt to do that was rebuffed when Chinese leaders refused to take Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s call.
Failing that, the only option the Pentagon has is to shoot them down – a relatively easy task for U.S. pilots, Smith said.
Smith also called for calm, noting that large nations spy on one another. The U.S. government works to mitigate what China learns through spy satellites, he said. Balloons don’t offer the Chinese a new edge in spying.
In case you missed it:Another object shot down over Lake Huron in Michigan
“It’s not like they’re learning some deep dark secret that makes us extra vulnerable here,” he said. “We definitely want to stop them from doing it, as we want to try and stop all efforts of surveillance on the U.S. by China or anybody else for that matter. But, no, I don’t think it’s something that the American public needs to worry a great deal about.”
Senators are slated to receive a briefing on Tuesday about the objects shot down over the weekend.
What we know so far:How many spy balloons have been spotted? Questions mount after flying objects shot down