espionage suspected
China outraged by US balloon launch
Was it espionage? The balloon affair between the USA and China is intensifying. photo
© Larry Mayer/The Billings Gazette/AP/dpa
US fighter jets shoot down a balloon over the United States. The defense minister speaks of an “unacceptable violation” – China protests and speaks of an “overreaction”.
The US military shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon after days of observation.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin confirmed on Saturday (local time) that US fighter jets, on the instructions of US President Joe Biden, had crashed “the surveillance balloon that belongs to the People’s Republic of China” off the Atlantic coast of South Carolina. The US accused China of spying on the balloon. Beijing protested against the “obvious overreaction” on Sunday and again rejected the allegations.
Biden told reporters on Saturday that he had given the order to shoot it down several days ago. As early as Wednesday, when he was informed about the balloon, he ordered the flying object to be shot down “as quickly as possible”. A risk for the people on the ground should be ruled out. Therefore, it was decided to shoot down the flying object only over the sea but within US sovereign territory.
Launching over land would have been too dangerous
Launching the balloon over land would have been too dangerous due to the size and height of the balloon and its load, Secretary of Defense Austin said. China tried to use the balloon to monitor strategic locations on the US mainland, he stressed. He spoke of an “unacceptable violation” of US sovereignty. Several Republicans, including former US President Donald Trump, had called for the balloon to be shot down.
The Chinese government expressed its “strong dissatisfaction” with the US use of force against a “civilian unmanned airship”. It is a “serious violation” of international practices. China reserves the right to “necessary reactions,” said a foreign ministry spokesman in Beijing. China has repeatedly informed the United States that the balloon is for civilian purposes and that it flew over the United States “by force majeure, which was completely accidental.” The Pentagon itself said the balloon posed no threat to the military or people on the ground.
After the launch, a senior Pentagon official said recovery of the balloon was now in full swing. “It’s not clear how long it will take,” he said. The wreckage is in relatively shallow water, making recovery “pretty easy.” The balloon had been observed and tracked for some time. He appeared over Alaska on January 28th, over Canada on January 30th and over the US state of Idaho on January 31st.
United States: Collection of sensitive information prevented
During its flyover, the US took immediate steps to prevent the balloon from collecting sensitive information and diminishing its intelligence value to China, it said. At no time did the balloon pose a threat to civil aviation in the United States. The USA hopes to get more information about the mission from the recovery of the devices on board. The damage to the intelligence service is considered to be rather small, it said.
The Pentagon had already made the sighting of the balloon public on Thursday evening. Among other things, it was sighted in the US state of Montana near a US air force base, where ICBMs equipped with nuclear warheads are stored. On Saturday, eyewitnesses reported seeing the balloon in the eastern US state of North Carolina. TV pictures and videos from eyewitnesses showed how the white balloon was hit in the air on Saturday afternoon and crashed.
In response to the incident, US Secretary of State Blinken canceled his visit to Beijing, which was originally expected for Sunday. He called the balloon’s entry into US airspace “unacceptable” and “irresponsible.” China, on the other hand, spoke of a research balloon that was thrown off course by “force majeure”. After the incident was initially “regretted” in an unusually defensive manner, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman went on the offensive: “Some politicians and media in the US took advantage of the situation to attack China and bring it into disrepute.”
Blinken should have been received by Xi Jinping
It would have been the first visit by a US Secretary of State to China since 2018. According to media reports, Blinken should also have been received by China’s head of state and party leader Xi Jinping. Although the expectations of the visit were not high, there were hopes that it would calm the turbulent and difficult relations. Blinken underlined on Friday that the United States wanted to keep the communication channels to Beijing open and that the visit should be made up for soon “if conditions allow”.
Balloons are considered important observation platforms. Their use is not unusual. According to US information, another Chinese spy balloon is currently hovering over Latin America. Unlike satellites, they can stay in one place and don’t have to make a new orbit around the earth to take more pictures, experts say. You could observe from a closer distance, are difficult to detect for radar. They could also intercept communications. The navigation options are significantly improved today, so that they no longer depend solely on the wind.