The US is tracking a suspected Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon over the continental United States, defense officials said on Thursday, a discovery that risks adding further strain to tense US-China relations.
美国国防部官员周四表示，美国正在追踪疑似中国在美国大陆上空的高空监视气球，这一发现有可能进一步加剧紧张的美中关系。
Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said the US government has been tracking the balloon for several days as it made its way over the northern United States, adding it was “traveling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic and does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground.”
五角大楼发言人布里格。帕特里克莱德将军说，美国政府已经跟踪气球几天，因为它正在美国北部上空飞行，并补充说它“在远高于商业空中交通的高度飞行并且不会对任何人构成军事或物理威胁地上的人。”
Speaking on background, a senior US defense officialsaid senior military officials had advised President Joe Biden not to shoot it down due to fear the debris could pose a safety threat to people on the ground.
一位美国高级国防官员在后台发表讲话说，由于担心碎片可能对地面人员构成安全威胁，高级军方官员曾建议乔·拜登总统不要将其击落。
“We are confident that this high-altitude surveillance balloon belongs to the [People’s Republic of China],” the senior defense official said. “Instances of this activity have been observed over the past several years, including prior to this administration.”
“我们确信这个高空监视气球属于[中华人民共和国]，”这位高级国防官员说。 “在过去几年中，包括在本届政府之前，已经观察到这种活动的实例。”
While the balloon’s current flight path carries it over “a number of sensitive sites,” the official said it does not present a significant intelligence gathering risk. The balloon is assessed to have “limited additive value” from an intelligence collection perspective, the official added.
虽然气球目前的飞行路线会飞越“一些敏感地点”，但这位官员表示，它不会带来重大的情报收集风险。该官员补充说，从情报收集的角度来看，该气球被评估为具有“有限的附加价值”。
The US, the official said, is “taking steps nevertheless to protect against foreign intelligence collection of sensitive information. We are also tracking what abilities it could have in gaining insights, and continue to monitor the balloon as it was over the continental United States.”
这位官员说，美国“正在采取措施防止外国情报机构收集敏感信息。我们还在跟踪它在获得洞察力方面可能具有的能力，并在气球飞越美国大陆时继续对其进行监控。”
On Friday, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the balloon entered US airspace accidentally.
周五，中国外交部发言人表示，气球意外进入美国领空。
“It is a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes. Affected by the Westerlies and with limited self-steering capability, the airship deviated far from its planned course. The Chinese side regrets the unintended entry of the airship into US airspace due to force majeure,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
“这是一艘民用飞艇，用于研究，主要用于气象研究。受西风带影响，飞艇自航能力有限，飞艇偏离预定航向较远。中方对飞艇因不可抗力意外进入美国领空表示遗憾，”发言人在一份声明中说。
The US believes Chinese spy satellites in low Earth orbit are capable of offering similar or better intelligence, limiting the value of whatever Beijing can glean from the high-altitude balloon, which is the size of three buses, according to another defense official.
另一位国防官员表示，美国认为中国在低地球轨道上的间谍卫星能够提供类似或更好的情报，从而限制了北京从高空气球中收集到的任何信息的价值，高空气球有三辆公共汽车那么大。
“It does not create significant value added over and above what the PRC is likely able to collect through things like satellites in low Earth orbit,” the senior defense official said.
这位高级国防官员说：“除了中国可能通过近地轨道卫星等东西收集的东西之外，它并没有创造出显着的附加值。”
The US government has engaged with the Chinese government both through the Chinese embassy in Washington and the US diplomatic mission in China, according to the official.
这位官员说，美国政府通过中国驻华盛顿大使馆和美国驻华使领馆与中国政府进行了接触。
US national security officials have constantly warned about Chinese espionage efforts and the balloon’s presence in the US comes at a sensitive moment with Secretary of State Antony Blinken expected to travel to Beijing in the coming days, a significant trip meant to follow up on President Joe Biden’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping last year.
美国国家安全官员不断警告中国的间谍活动，气球出现在美国正值敏感时刻，国务卿安东尼布林肯预计将在未来几天前往北京，这是一次重要的访问，旨在跟进总统乔拜登的去年与中国国家主席习近平会面。
Josh Lipsky, senior director of the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center, said it is clear the US wanted to make China aware that it knew about the balloon before Blinken landed in China.
大西洋理事会地球经济中心高级主任乔希·利普斯基表示，很明显，美国想让中国知道，在布林肯降落中国之前，它就知道气球的事。
“It sets the state for [an] extraordinary tense meeting between Blinken and Qin Gang,” Lipsky said, referring to the Chinese foreign minister. “It puts Chinese officials on the backfoot heading into the meetings.”
“这为布林肯和秦刚之间异常紧张的会面奠定了基础，”利普斯基说，他指的是中国外交部长。 “这让中国官员在参加会议时处于不利地位。”
Biden has declared China “America’s most consequential geopolitical challenge” and competition between the two global superpowers is intense. Tensions have flared in recent years over the self-governing island of Taiwan, China’s human rights record and its military activities in the South China Sea, among a host of other issues.
拜登宣布中国是“美国最重要的地缘政治挑战”，这两个全球超级大国之间的竞争非常激烈。近年来，围绕自治岛屿台湾、中国的人权记录及其在南中国海的军事活动以及其他一系列问题，紧张局势不断升级。
China’s Foreign Ministry said Friday it was aware of reports of the incident but warned against “deliberate speculation.”
中国外交部周五表示，它知道有关这起事件的报道，但警告不要“蓄意猜测”。
“[We] are trying to understand the circumstances and verify the details of the situation. I’d like to stress that before it becomes clear what happened, any deliberate speculation or hyping up would not help handling of the matter,” ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a regular news conference, in response to CNN’s query.
“[我们]正在努力了解情况并核实情况的细节。外交部发言人毛宁在例行记者会上回应美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）的提问时说，我想强调的是，在事情真相大白之前，任何刻意猜测或炒作都无助于处理此事。
“China is a responsible country. We act in accordance with international law. We have no intention in violating other countries’ airspace. We hope relevant parties would handle the matter in a cool-headed way.”
“中国是一个负责任的国家。我们按照国际法行事。我们无意侵犯他国领空。我们希望有关方面冷静处理此事。”
Meanwhile, Canada said on Thursday evening it is also tracking the balloon’s movements and working with their American partners, including the monitoring of a potential second incident.
与此同时，加拿大周四晚上表示，它也在跟踪气球的移动并与美国合作伙伴合作，包括监测可能发生的第二起事件。
Biden was briefed and took advice not to shoot balloon down
拜登听取了简报并听取了建议不要击落气球
Officials tell CNN that congressional leaders and Biden have been briefed on the balloon’s movements, and the president requested military options on how to deal with it.
官员告诉美国有线电视新闻网，国会领导人和拜登已经听取了气球移动的简报，总统要求就如何处理它提出军事选择。
Biden took Milley’s advice not to order the balloon shot down and the official stressed that it does not pose a military threat emphasizing that the administration acted “immediately” to protect against the collection of sensitive information.
拜登采纳了米利的建议，没有下令击落气球，这位官员强调，这不会构成军事威胁，并强调政府“立即”采取行动，防止收集敏感信息。
The senior defense official mentioned reports from Wednesday about a “ground stop” at Billings Airport in Montana, and the “mobilization of assets, including F-22s.”
这位高级国防官员提到了周三有关蒙大拿州比林斯机场“地面停留”以及“资产调动，包括 F-22”的报道。
“The context for that was, it would put some things on station in the event that a decision was made to bring this down while it was over Montana,” the official said. “So we wanted to make sure we were coordinating with civil authorities to empty out the airspace around that potential area.”
这位官员说：“这样做的背景是，如果在蒙大拿州上空决定将其撤下，它将把一些东西放在车站。” “所以我们想确保我们正在与民政当局协调，以清空该潜在区域周围的空域。”
However, it was ultimately the “strong recommendation” of senior military leaders, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, not to shoot it down due to the risk to safety of people on the ground.
但最终，包括参谋长联席会议主席马克·米尔利将军在内的高级军方领导人“强烈建议”不要将其击落，以免危及地面人员的安全。
“Why not shoot it down? We have to do the risk-reward here,” the official said. “So the first question is, does it pose a threat, a physical kinetic threat, to individuals in the United States in the US homeland? Our assessment is it does not. Does it pose a threat to civilian aviation? Our assessment is it does not. Does it pose a significantly enhanced threat on the intelligence side? Our best assessment right now is that it does not. So given that profile, we assess the risk of downing it, even if the probability is low in a sparsely populated area of the debris falling and hurting someone or damaging property, that it wasn’t worth it.”
“为什么不击落它？我们必须在这里做风险回报，”这位官员说。 “所以第一个问题是，它是否对美国本土的美国人构成威胁，物理动能威胁？我们的评估是没有。它是否对民用航空构成威胁？我们的评估是没有。它是否对情报方面构成了显着增强的威胁？我们目前最好的评估是事实并非如此。因此，鉴于这种情况，我们评估了将其击落的风险，即使在人口稀少的地区，碎片坠落并伤人或损坏财产的可能性很低，也不值得这样做。”
Montana is home to fields of underground Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile silos, one potential target for Chinese espionage.
蒙大拿州拥有地下民兵 III 洲际弹道导弹发射井，这是中国间谍活动的潜在目标之一。
The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Friday that Chinese officials would “continue communicating with the US side and properly handled this unexpected situation.”
中国外交部发言人周五表示，中国官员将“继续与美方沟通，妥善处理这一突发情况。”
The senior defense official said on Thursday that if the risk level changes, the US “will have options to deal with this balloon.”
这位高级国防官员周四表示，如果风险水平发生变化，美国“将有应对这个气球的选择”。
We have communicated to [Chinese officials] the seriousness with which we take this issue. … But we have made clear we will do whatever is necessary to protect our people and our homeland.”
我们已经向[中国官员]传达了我们对待这个问题的严肃态度。 ......但我们已经明确表示，我们将采取一切必要措施来保护我们的人民和我们的家园。”
This story is been updated with additional developments.
这个故事随着其他发展而更新。
According to Layton, the suspected Chinese balloon is likely collecting information on US communication systems and radars.
据莱顿称，疑似中国气球可能正在收集美国通信系统和雷达的信息。
“Some of these systems use extremely high frequencies that are short range, can be absorbed by the atmosphere and being line-of-sight are very directional. It’s possible a balloon might be a better collection platform for such specific technical collection than a satellite,” he said.
“其中一些系统使用极高的频率，范围很短，可以被大气吸收，并且视线方向性很强。对于这种特定的技术收集，气球可能是比卫星更好的收集平台，”他说。
Retired US Air Force Col. Cedric Leighton, a CNN military analyst, echoed those thoughts.
美国有线电视新闻网军事分析师、美国退役空军上校塞德里克·莱顿也表达了同样的看法。
“They could be scooping up signals intelligence, in other words, they’re looking at our cell phone traffic, our radio traffic,” Leighton told CNN’s Erin Burnett.
“他们可能正在获取信号情报，换句话说，他们正在查看我们的手机流量，我们的无线电流量，”Leighton 告诉 CNN 的 Erin Burnett。
Intelligence data collected by the balloon could be relayed in real time via a satellite link back to China, Layton said.
雷顿说，气球收集的情报数据可以通过卫星链路实时传回中国。
Analysts also noted that Montana and nearby states are home to US intercontinental ballistic missile silos and strategic bomber bases.
分析人士还指出，蒙大拿州和附近的州是美国洲际弹道导弹发射井和战略轰炸机基地的所在地。
US officials say they have taken actions to ensure the balloon cannot collect any sensitive data. They decided against shooting it down because of the risk to lives and property by falling debris.
美国官员表示，他们已采取行动确保气球无法收集任何敏感数据。他们决定不将其击落，因为坠落的碎片会给生命和财产带来风险。
And if the US could bring down the balloon within its territory without destroying it then the balloon might reveal some secrets of its own, Layton added.
雷顿补充说，如果美国能够在不破坏气球的情况下将气球在其领土内击落，那么气球可能会泄露它自己的一些秘密。
But maybe there are no secrets or spying involved. This could be just an accident, with the balloon blown off course or Chinese operators losing control of it somehow.
但也许没有秘密或间谍活动。这可能只是一次意外，气球被吹离了航线，或者中国运营商不知何故失去了对它的控制。
“There’s at least some possibility that this was a mistake and the balloon ended up somewhere Beijing didn’t expect,” Herzinger said.
赫辛格说：“至少有可能这是一个错误，气球落在了北京方面没有预料到的地方。”
美国国防部官员周四表示，美国正在追踪疑似中国在美国大陆上空的高空监视气球，这一发现有可能进一步加剧紧张的美中关系。
五角大楼发言人布里格。帕特里克莱德将军说，美国政府已经跟踪气球几天，因为它正在美国北部上空飞行，并补充说它“在远高于商业空中交通的高度飞行并且不会对任何人构成军事或物理威胁地上的人。”
一位美国高级国防官员在后台发表讲话说，由于担心碎片可能对地面人员构成安全威胁，高级军方官员曾建议乔·拜登总统不要将其击落。
“我们确信这个高空监视气球属于[中华人民共和国]，”这位高级国防官员说。 “在过去几年中，包括在本届政府之前，已经观察到这种活动的实例。”
虽然气球目前的飞行路线会飞越“一些敏感地点”，但这位官员表示，它不会带来重大的情报收集风险。该官员补充说，从情报收集的角度来看，该气球被评估为具有“有限的附加价值”。
这位官员说，美国“正在采取措施防止外国情报机构收集敏感信息。我们还在跟踪它在获得洞察力方面可能具有的能力，并在气球飞越美国大陆时继续对其进行监控。”
周五，中国外交部发言人表示，气球意外进入美国领空。
“这是一艘民用飞艇，用于研究，主要用于气象研究。受西风带影响，飞艇自航能力有限，飞艇偏离预定航向较远。中方对飞艇因不可抗力意外进入美国领空表示遗憾，”发言人在一份声明中说。
另一位国防官员表示，美国认为中国在低地球轨道上的间谍卫星能够提供类似或更好的情报，从而限制了北京从高空气球中收集到的任何信息的价值，高空气球有三辆公共汽车那么大。