Defense Secretary Ben Wallace announced a security review after the US military shot down several objects in western airspace, including a suspected Chinese spy balloon.
The review will assess the threat posed by suspected flying objects and work with the United States and other partners to analyze intelligence. The review will help decide whether any changes need to be made to the surveillance of British airspace.
Mr Wallace has previously said he would shoot down such a balloon if it was seen over the UK.
It comes as US fighter jets shot down an “unidentified object” over Lake Huron on Sunday – the fourth object to enter US or Canadian airspace in a week.
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Mr Wallace said: “The UK and its allies will review what this incursion into airspace means for our security. This development is another sign of how the global threat picture is changing for the worse”.
talking Sky News This morning, Transport Minister Richard Holden said it was “likely” that China had sent spy balloons over the UK.
Asked whether the spy balloons believed to have been launched in the US last week could have been used in the UK, Mr Holden replied in the affirmative.
He said: “I mean, it’s possible. It is also possible – and I think likely – that people in the Chinese government will try to act as an enemy state. We have seen this with Russia in the UK with the Salisbury poisoning and other actions they have taken.
“I think we have to be realistic about the threat these countries pose to the UK. They are not interested in our democratic values, they are not interested in standing up for human rights around the world”.
The first suspected Chinese spy balloon was shot down by the US military on February 4, after the object passed over sensitive military sites across North America.
On February 10, the US military shot down an unidentified “car-sized” object flying in US airspace off the coast of Alaska.
On Sunday, another unidentified object was shot down with a missile by a US warplane over Lake Huron.
Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee Chairman Alicia Kearns said telegraph: “British airspace is protected by an exceptionally rapid reaction force, which has proven itself highly capable against unknown and hostile aircraft.
“The US will share with us and the Five Eyes allies its conclusions about the capabilities of the Chinese balloons, and at that time there will be an internal review of our ability to detect, track, disrupt and destroy these balloons”.
Former Conservative leader Sir Ian Duncan Smith has called on the British government to stop “kowtowing” to Beijing. Sir Yan will take part in a protest outside the Foreign Office today after the government department invited the governor of Xinjiang province for a meeting despite allegations of human rights abuses against Uyghurs.
she said telegraph: “China is looking at us and we are weak. It is ridiculous for Rishi Sunak to say when he stands for leadership that he wants to identify China as a strategic threat, but then say it is a strategic challenge”.
The comments will put more pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to take a tough stance against China. On Friday, former prime minister Liz Truss is set to warn of threats from Beijing in her first public speech since leaving Downing Street.