Chinese Balloons are turning out to be Enemy Number 1 for US

The US is busy pointing fingers at the sky and coming up with theories about a certain giant white balloon. The US recently shot down a giant white high-altitude balloon belonging to China over the South Carolina coastline. US intelligence officials believe it was a spy balloon and are examining the wreckage.

First closeup video of China’s spy balloon being shot down by US military. pic.twitter.com/0h2G2SjnOP

— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) February 4, 2023

Is it a spy balloon? Well according to the US, it is a spy balloon. Here's what we know about it so far (according to US officials):

• The balloon was described to be as big as a jet airliner, about 200 ft tall and weighing potentially a thousand pounds or 500 kg. 
• China has reportedly flown similar balloons at least two dozen times in the past several years in over five continents. 
• Moreover, several of these flights have been within the US airspace.
• The current Biden government is also investigating how the balloons escaped detection during the Trump era, acknowledged by the military as a "domain awareness gap". 

Little did I know that I photographed a #chinesespyballoon yesterday. pic.twitter.com/vFQltifxkU

— Chase Doak (@ckdoak) February 2, 2023

• Last week, the Pentagon also spotted a second Chinese balloon over Latin America, with sightings reported in Costa Rica and Venezuela. 
• CNN reported that a Chinese balloon was also spotted over Taiwan, the island nation on which Beijing exerts hegemony. 
• US officials have acknowledged that the balloon doesn't have great steering ability, meaning it cannot be extensively remote-controlled. The balloon largely flew according to the jet stream direction.  
• The US intelligence department's theory is that the spy balloons are part of an extensive surveillance programme being run by China. 
• The surveillance programme is reportedly operated from the small Chinese province of Hainan, and involves a fleet of such balloons. 
• There are possibly different versions of the spy balloons.
• The US said that it has already gathered some real-time information on the kinds of signals the balloon was emitting as it travelled. 

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What now: US will examine the wreckage of the balloon to determine whether it is indeed a spy weapon and if so, how it works and what data it collected. 

📍ATLANTIC OCEAN - @USNavy Sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 recover a high-altitude surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Feb. 5, 2023. pic.twitter.com/QwjSFQEw1b

— U.S. Fleet Forces (@USFleetForces) February 7, 2023

• Investigators will check whether the balloon was linked to a satellite, whether it took any images, and the quality and intent of the images.  
• Investigators will also look for the digital signatures it emitted to help the US track similar devices in the future. 
• The device will be somewhat reconstructed to determine whether it transmitted any data in real time or stored the data. 
• The US will also check whether the balloon device is similar to any of their own military technology since China is known for stealing American defence secrets. 
• The Biden administration also defended its decision to not immediately shoot down the balloon since they wanted to know what it was doing in order to preserve information. 

Do such spy balloons exist besides in China? The US itself used to fly these spy balloons over the Soviet Union during the 1940s-50s. But they were replaced by high-altitude spy airplanes and then satellites. 

• But according to the Conversation, Pentagon has revisited the balloons in the last few decades to see whether the high-altitude balloons can still be used for spying and whether they can do something that the satellites cannot. 
• Now, the most important thing to uncover for the US will be the intent of the Chinese behind the use of spy balloons, which is also the hardest. 

This is what US President Joe Biden had to say when asked why Beijing would send a spy balloon: 

The question from @Phil_Mattingly is about why China carried out such a brazen act with the spy balloon. The answer is mostly in the president's expression. pic.twitter.com/tv9ZG7wnLO

— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) February 6, 2023

What does China say about the 'spy' balloon? China has refused to hold official talks with the US government over the detection of balloons. 

• It also says that the balloon is not a surveillance device, but a "civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological", and which accidentally entered the US airspace due to the wind patterns and lack of self-steering capability. 
• China also called the US's actions in shooting down the balloon an "overreaction" and a violation of international law. US refutes the claim of any violation, saying that they are well within their right to defend their airspace. 
• This incident has resulted in Secretary of State Antony Blinken putting on hold his trip to China and straining an already strained US-China relationship. But - point to note - Blinken called up China to inform them of the same, thereby signalling that communication with China hadn't totally been snapped off.

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