China spy balloons ‘may have passed over UK’ as government launches security review

A series of incursions by suspected Chinese spy balloons into Western airspace has prompted the UK defence secretary to call for a security review.

Ben Wallace said he would work with the US and other partners to examine intelligence and assess the threat posed by the surveillance devices.

Washington ordered another balloon be shot out of the sky over the US on Sunday, the third in little more than a week. A US air force jet on Saturday shot down a balloon in Canadian airspace with the permission of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Speaking separately on Monday morning another government minister said it was “possible” that spy balloons have been deployed by China across Britain’s airspace.

Richard Holden, a transport minister told Sky News: “It is also possible, and I would think likely, that there would be people from the Chinese government trying to act as a hostile state.”

He added: “I think we have to be realistic about the threat these countries pose to the UK.”

Asked how concerned ministers were about the US shooting down unidentified objects in recent days, Mr Holden said: “I think the Government is concerned about what’s going on.”

Westminster’s review into the balloons will be used to determine whether changes need to be made to the surveillance of Britain’s skies. Mr Wallace said earlier this week that Chinese spy balloons may well have already circled the UK.

Speaking to The Sun, he said: “Is it the case that a Chinese satellite has probably circled Britain and looked at us? I should think yes.’”

On Sunday night, he said: “The UK and her allies will review what these airspace intrusions mean for our security. This development is another sign of how the global threat picture is changing for the worse.”

The White House said Chinese balloons had been spotted over five continents, though it did not specify which ones.

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The first balloon was shot down on Saturday 4 February, while a “high altitude object” was shot down over Alaska on Friday. That was followed by another over Canada’s northwestern province of Yukon on Saturday.

On Sunday, the US military said it had shot down another unidentified object flying over Lake Huron, between the American state of Michigan and Canada’s Ontario.

China claimed it was preparing to shoot down an object near its coast, but gave no further information.

Mr Wallace has previously said that if one of the balloons was sighted over the UK, it would be shot down.

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Alicia Kearns, who chairs the Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee, told The Telegraph: “British airspace is protected by an exceptionally quick reaction force, which has proved itself very capable against unknown and hostile aircraft.

“The US will share with us and Five Eyes allies its conclusions on the capabilities of the Chinese balloons, and at that point, an internal review of our ability to identify, track, disrupt and destroy these balloons will be undertaken.”

The spy balloons follow years of deteriorating relations between China and the West.

In 2000, Britain ordered 5G mobile networks to remove technology from Chinese tech firm Huawei over security concerns, and concern has been raised that the country’s Confucius Institutes are being used to spread Communist Party propaganda in British universities.