A new report revealed that the Chinese spy ship that flew over the United States earlier this year was communicating with mainland China through a US internet provider.
Two current and one former Biden administration official told NBC News in a Thursday report that the ship was using a U.S. internet provider to primarily receive navigation communications.
NBC News did not name the internet provider in the report.
The company denied that the Chinese spy system had used its services and had reached that conclusion through its own investigation and conversations with US officials.
An official said the spy ship, which was shot down by the U.S. military off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4, used high-bandwidth data collections known as burst transmissions to send information.
The report also says the Biden administration asked the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for a top-secret order to gather intelligence on the ship as it flew over several states.
Officials said that order would have allowed the government to monitor the spy ship’s communications during its journey.
Several officials said in the report that in the past, China has secretly used commercial Internet providers in different nations as backup communications networks.
Encrypted networks are often sought after for their security.
Chinese embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu told NBC News that the craft was a weather balloon that had veered off course.
“As we had made clear before, the aircraft, used for meteorological research, inadvertently headed towards the United States due to westerly winds and its limited self-steering capability,” Liu said.
Two current and one former Biden administration official told NBC News in a Thursday report that the ship was using a U.S. internet provider to primarily receive navigation communications. REUTERS
“The facts are clear.”
The office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment to Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House and the Chinese Embassy for comment.
NBC News did not name the internet provider in the report. Via REUTERS
Even though Biden administration officials assured the American public that the Chinese spy balloon did not collect or transmit data, a previously unreported phone call paints a different picture of top officials withholding information about the balloon.
According to NBC News, a Jan. 27 phone call between President Biden’s top military advisor, Gen. Mark Milley, and NORAD chief Gen. Glen VanHerck, sheds new light on China’s surveillance globe.
The network also reported that the administration initially hoped to keep the balloon’s existence a secret from Congress and the public, citing multiple former and current administration and congressional officials.
The company denied that the Chinese spy ship had used its services and had reached that conclusion through its own investigation and conversations with US officials. REUTERS
“Before it was publicly discovered, there was an intention to study it and let it go and never tell anyone about it,” a former senior US official told NBC.
A senior Biden administration official denied allegations of an attempt to cover up the incident and said decisions were made to protect sensitive intelligence capabilities.
Fox News Digital’s Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn