The Chinese balloon shot down last Saturday by Washington over the United States would not be an isolated case.
China has deployed “in recent years” a “fleet of balloons intended for spy operations” around the world, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said on Wednesday.
"Chinese balloons have been observed over countries on five continents" whose sovereignty they "violated", she said during a press briefing, a few days after the United States shot down an aircraft flying over their territory.
The United States is "in discussion with (their) allies and partners" about this "fleet" of spy balloons, she added.
Several suspicious devices spotted
Washington made the decision last Saturday to shoot down the Chinese unmanned aircraft that was spotted on Feb. 2 flying over the northern United States.
The Pentagon suspects China of collecting images for espionage purposes using these balloons.
China had expressed its dissatisfaction after the destruction of its machine intended according to it for research, "mainly meteorological".
The American Pentagon had indicated on February 4 that a second balloon was flying over South America, without being able to confirm that it was a Chinese aircraft.
The Canadian government had also indicated that it was investigating “another potential incident”.
The destruction of the Chinese balloon by the United States considerably cooled the already strained relations between the two powers.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled a long-planned trip to Beijing and China declined to answer a phone call from the Pentagon.
