An unflattering Chinese spy balloon soaring over the United States last week triggered a diplomatic crisis that sent the White House into a frenzy. Now, President Biden is expected to receive a briefing this week about the incident.
I spy a spy device in the sky
China insists it was a weather research balloon that blew off course due to wind, and had limited self-steering capabilities. However, senior administration officials told CBS News that the balloon’s route over potentially sensitive sites contradicts China’s claims.
1. U.S. military shoots down balloon
The United States on Saturday shot down a Chinese balloon that had been over the US for days, a move that has stoked tensions with China and could raise further questions about Beijing’s ability to spy. An F-22 fighter jet destroyed the balloon with a single shot, the Pentagon said.
The shoot Fox down was carried out in coordination with Canadian forces, the department said in a statement Saturday. The F-22, flying at 58,000 feet, fired a Sidewinder missile to take out the balloon, which was about six nautical miles off the coast of South Carolina.
Military officials said the debris of the balloon – which is believed to be about the size of three school buses – will be spread out over about seven miles. It will likely be found in shallow water, which should make the recovery process fairly easy.
Senior defense officials said it’s unlikely that any Americans, including civilians, were harmed during the downing. They added that the operation was expected to be completed in a relatively short time.
While the shoot down has heightened tensions with China, it also provides a clearer picture of what exactly was going on over American airspace. The balloon had entered the country’s airspace on 28 January before moving into Canadian airspace over northern Idaho, where it re-entered U.S. airspace on Jan. 31, a defense official told the AP.
It then traveled across a number of sensitive areas, including Montana, which has one of America’s three nuclear warhead silo fields at Malmstrom Air Force Base. That route contradicted China’s claim that the balloon was merely a weather research airship that was blown off course.
In addition to the shoot down, the Department of Defense has been conducting a vast underwater search for the remains of the balloon and its payload. The military says it will be able to use the information to assess what type of intelligence China may have gained as it flew across the US.
The Pentagon has taken steps to mitigate what it can collect while the balloon is in the air, but it’s difficult to know how much information the Chinese could have gathered. The US will be able to learn a lot more about China’s capabilities as it watches the balloon’s movements and equipment over the coming days.
2. China claims it’s a weather research balloon
The Chinese government claimed Saturday that the mysterious balloon spotted flying over the United States last week was merely a civilian weather research airship and not spying on Americans. The Foreign Ministry said the vehicle had limited “self-steering” capabilities and deviated far from its planned course because of winds.
The United States, however, has rejected China’s claims, saying the balloon was a covert surveillance device. It has been spotted in several countries around the world, and experts say it could be collecting information about US communication systems and radars that are used for military purposes.
Some analysts think it may be a political message ahead of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to Beijing later this month, and others believe it is a test to see whether the U.S. can detect Chinese spying activities at sensitive sites.
While the balloon is a common sight over the world, experts say it’s difficult to track it since it travels at an altitude of about 60,000 feet. That’s near the Armstrong and Karman lines, the limits of the atmosphere where balloons can travel safely.
A balloon can rise about four meters a second and take two measurements of the sky every second, giving scientists on the ground data about the temperature, wind speed, pressure and humidity. In addition, it can communicate with satellites.
One of the most dangerous risks of a balloon is that it can fall back down to earth, which would create a large debris field. It’s why the Pentagon said it had considered shooting it down if it wasn’t moving on its own, but now refuses to give details about its location or whether there’s any new consideration of a shoot down.
If it does fall to the ground, it could create a large mess and put people at risk, but the Pentagon has recommended against such a move.
The Defense Department has been able to collect intelligence on the balloon as it moved through American air space over the past few days, a senior defense official told reporters Friday. It has determined that the technology on the balloon doesn’t give China any significant intelligence it can’t get by other means, but it has taken steps to mitigate any potential threats.
3. Canada says it’s monitoring a potential second incident
Canadian officials are reportedly monitoring a potential second incident of a high-altitude balloon spotted flying over Canada and said to be carrying surveillance equipment. The Department of National Defense on Thursday issued a statement saying the country was “actively tracking” the balloon. It did not offer any further details, or whether the same balloon had been detected in the United States as well.
Meanwhile, China said it was working to verify reports of the alleged Chinese spy balloon over its territory. It warned against making conjectures and hyping up the issue, but it hasn’t ruled out shooting down the aircraft if it gets too close to sensitive military installations.
In a separate statement, the foreign ministry also urged a sense of calm in relations between the two countries. “China is a responsible country and has always strictly abided by international law, and China has no intention to violate the territory or airspace of any sovereign countries,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a briefing Friday.
One former Canadian ambassador to China, Guy Saint-Jacques, told The Star that he thought President Xi Jinping was counting on Blinken’s visit to help ease tensions between the two nations. However, he said that if Beijing was truly concerned about a balloon over its territory, it would have notified Ottawa and Washington.
The balloon’s appearance represents an awkward moment for the communist government, which has long opposed incursions into its own territory. It also shows that China is willing to push the envelope on some technologies, including those related to spying and cyber-attacks, he says.
Despite the uncertainty about the balloon’s origin, analysts agree that its presence is alarming. It weakens China’s long-standing opposition to incursions into what it considers its own territory, which includes disputed areas such as the South China Sea.
It also undermines the United States’ ability to protect itself from Chinese espionage and cyber attacks. And it raises the risk of a new Cold War.
During an event at Georgetown University on Thursday, CIA Director William Burns described China as the ‘biggest geopolitical challenge’ facing the U.S. But he also said the balloon was “a small, symbolic step,” and that it doesn’t necessarily mean that China is taking an increased interest in its own security. Still, the balloon’s appearance has caused an uncomfortable stir in Washington and sparked debate about the future of U.S.-China relations.
4. White House says President Biden has been briefed
A Chinese spy balloon that swept across the US in a week-long journey has been shot down, marking an escalation of tensions with Beijing and highlighting a new round of tumult between the two nations.
In a briefing to reporters, the White House says President Biden has been informed about the Chinese balloon update and that it is “being handled carefully”.
The balloon, which entered US airspace on Monday and was shot down on Tuesday, is part of a fleet of Chinese spy balloons that have been observed in the skies of five continents over the past year. The White House is said to be working to determine if there is any intelligence from the balloon that can help the United States.
Officials say they have also begun to gather information about what kind of equipment the balloon had, including a specialized camera and sensors that can detect if there is a threat to the US. They are looking into how long the balloon stayed in US airspace, and whether it could have continued to transmit data once it reached open water, a senior administration official said.
The home of one of Trumps banks is suspicious
After the Chinese balloon swung through Montana, the US military immediately scrambled to assess and identify any potential security risks from it. A wide range of US assets were deployed in the area to assess the balloon and to collect any intelligence it may have scooped up along its way.
On Wednesday, as the balloon made its way from the Aleutian Islands to Montana, the military notified federal aviation agencies of its presence and began work to prepare for the possibility that it would shut down airspace. That included talking to the Federal Aviation Administration about options to close airspace and potentially denying flights in and out of Billings, Montana, a city that is home to one of the largest silos of the United States’ Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles.
According to the Pentagon, the U.S. has a plan in place to intercept the Chinese balloon, which is expected to land in the ocean Saturday. The plan includes a US jet firing a heat-seeking missile at the balloon to disintegrate it, an operation that will be led by the U.S. National Guard and other elements of the military, a Pentagon source told reporters.