The US said a Chinese spycraft that flew over the US earlier this year was linked to China through the services of a US internet service provider.
According to US intelligence officials, a US Internet company provided communications network maintenance services to the Chinese balloon.
The Internet company, for instance, was used to send and receive information from China via the balloon. But the company (name was not disclosed) said in its internal investigation that no corroborating evidence was found for the allegation.
The Pentagon said on 3 February that a Chinese high-altitude reconnaissance balloon flew over the US mainland and passed over sensitive military facilities, including nuclear warhead and long-range missile depots in the state of Montana.
Nevertheless, China still maintains that the balloon was merely a civilian aircraft used for meteorological research that accidentally entered US airspace:
“As we had made it clear before, the airship, used for meteorological research, unintentionally drifted into US because of the westerlies and its limited self-steering capability,” said a spokesman at the Chinese Embassy in Washington.
However, Beijing’s explanations did not satisfy Washington, and on 4 February, as the balloon rose over the Atlantic Ocean, it was shot down by a US warplane on the orders of President Joe Biden.
