We have known more discreet as a snitch. Thursday, the Pentagon indicated that a Chinese spy balloon, the size of “three buses”, was flying at “very high altitude” over the territory of the United States and sensitive military sites. Is this flying machine dangerous? How does China respond to US accusations? Can the episode call into question a visit by the American Secretary of State to China, scheduled for this weekend? 20 minutes review this case.
What is this balloon seen over Montana?
“There is something in the sky. And I have no idea what it is. It’s stationary, for about thirty-five minutes (…). It’s not the moon. Rolling his eyes, Chase Doak, a resident of Billings, Montana’s largest city, saw a large white ball on Wednesday. “At first I believed in a UFO”, confided the data analyst to our journalist in the United States, Philippe Berry. That the former photojournalist is reassured, he was not the victim of a hallucination. Late Thursday afternoon, the Pentagon delivered the explanation to the whole country (and the world).
The big sphere as big as “three buses” is a Chinese spy balloon, which has already flown over several American states (Alaska and Montana) at an altitude much higher than that of airliners and has entered the territory from “about two days “. The balloon is said to have already flown over the Aleutian Islands in the northern Pacific Ocean, then crossed Canadian airspace to the United States, where it flew over the state of Montana, according to American media. citing defense officials.
“Clearly, this balloon is intended for surveillance and its current trajectory takes it over sensitive sites” including air bases and strategic missile silos, said an American official. “We have no doubt that this is a PRC balloon,” a senior Pentagon official later said, who spoke on condition of anonymity, using the acronym for the People’s Republic of China. .
What can this balloon spy on?
The unidentified flying machine flew over a number of sensitive sites, according to the Pentagon official: “clearly, it passed over these sites to gather information”. And Montana is home to nuclear missile silos in particular… Still, we wonder today what such a spy balloon, widely used during the First World War, can bring to China, when there are super satellites much more reliable.
Balloons would, however, be a cheap way to get information. “In the future, we will have balloons above our heads for several months in a row, which could compromise our activities at a lower cost than in space”, estimates this Friday General Frédéric Parisot, vice- Chief of the French Air Force.
Is this big Chinese spy balloon dangerous?
The US Department of Defense said the large flying object posed no direct threat. “The balloon is currently flying at an altitude well above commercial air traffic. It poses no military or physical threat to people on the ground,” detailed Pat RyderPentagon spokesman, in a statement.
But, because you can never be too careful, the United States still considered shooting down the ball, at the request of President Joe Biden. Two F-22 Raptor fighter jets took off from Nevada and approached the suspect aircraft on Wednesday, according to CBS News. The device was not destroyed in the end, the risk of flying debris being too great for the population, given its size, “as big as three buses”. “Does he pose a threat to civil aviation?” We believe that is not the case. Does he pose a significantly increased intelligence threat? Our assessment at this time is that it is not,” a senior defense official said. And to add: “We believe that the risk of shooting it down, even low (…) was not worth taking. »
Are there other balloons?
Canada, which is also monitoring the situation, reported this Thursday a “ second potential incident without explicitly accusing China. “Canadians are safe and Canada is taking steps to keep our airspace secure, including monitoring for a potential second incident,” Canada’s Department of National Defense said in a statement.
Note that China has sent many balloons over the United States in recent years, said the senior Pentagon official. However, he said, this is the first time a Chinese balloon has stayed in US airspace for such a long period.
What is China saying?
“We are in the process of taking note of the situation and carrying out a verification. We hope that the two parties can handle this issue with composure and caution, “said Chinese diplomacy spokesperson Mao Ning on Friday. Faced with accusations from the American power, which informed Beijing of the “seriousness of the incident”, the spokesperson calls for “not to escalate things even before the facts are established”, while affirming that the China has always “strictly abided by international law”.
A few hours before this reaction, the newspaper GlobalTimesfunded by the Chinese Communist Party, mocked in a tweet of this incident. “If balloons from other countries can truly enter the continental United States unhindered, or even enter the skies over certain states, that only proves that the United States air defense system cannot is only there to look pretty and is not trustworthy,” he quipped.
For their part, the American authorities affirmed that this type of episode had already occurred several times in recent years, “including before the coming to power of this administration »
Can the USA-China meeting be called into question?
This new incident between China and the United States comes just two days before a crucial meeting. For the first time since 2018, an American Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, is to visit China on Sunday and Monday, precisely to try to ease tensions between the two superpowers. Taiwan is expected to be on the menu at the China-US summit, as are Beijing’s activities in Southeast Asia, two hot topics between these nations, as Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin signed agreements in the Philippines on Thursday to strengthen the American military presence.
The spy balloon did not fail to react to Joe Biden’s political opponents. Kevin McCarthy, Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, called on the Democrat in a tweet not to “stay silent” in the face of “destabilizing action” from China. The State Department has refused to say whether the episode of the spy balloon called into question this visit.