US accuses the Chinese military of being behind vast aerial spy programme

The remnants of a large balloon drift above the Atlantic Ocean, just off the coast of South Carolina, with a fighter jet and its contrail seen below it (Chad Fish/AP)

China’s military is probably behind an aerial spy programme targeting more than 40 countries on five continents with high-altitude surveillance balloons similar to one the US shot down over the Atlantic Ocean coast, President Joe Biden’s administration said.

The statement from a senior State Department official offered the most detail to date linking China’s People’s Liberation Army to the balloon that traversed the United States, with the administration saying China has developed a vast surveillance programme capable of collecting sensitive intelligence.