China has conducted spy balloon programme for years, says Pentagon

The high altitude balloon floating over the US (Larry Mayer/The Billings Gazette via AP)

The Chinese balloon shot down off the South Carolina coast was part of a large surveillance programme that China has been conducting for “several years”, the Pentagon said.

When similar balloons passed over US territory on four occasions during the Trump and Biden administrations, the US did not immediately identify them as Chinese surveillance balloons, said Brigadier General Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary.