The Chinese spy balloon, which was dropped by US forces off the coast of South Carolina on February 4 after crossing US airspace, was probably not heading towards the skies over the continental United States. The event, which strained relations between Washington and Beijing, could therefore turn into an accidental accident.
to reveal this Washington PostU.S. intelligence, which has been tracking the balloon since the week before it entered U.S. airspace, has observed that the balloon, taking off from the Chinese island of Hainan, has entered a flight path that appears to take it to the U.S. territory of Guam, an island in the western pacific ocean. But later – he notes, the US newspaper quotes officials – “somewhere on the eastern route, the plane unexpectedly turned north”.
A thesis that could confirm China’s stance on the unintentional entry of aircraft into US continental airspace. Intelligence analysts aren’t sure whether the obvious diversion was intentional or accidental, but they believe the mission was for intelligence gathering, most likely at US military installations in the Pacific. The Chinese spy bubble incident led to the delay of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Beijing, scheduled for early February.
Strategic importance of the island of Guam
So what was the path of the balloon detected by US radars? Based on sensitive data, anonymous officials said the balloon flew over the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, thousands of miles from Guam, then drifted over Canada, where it encountered strong winds that seemed to blow it southward over the continental United States.
Guam has witnessed Chinese spy balloon raids in the past. Because the US-controlled Pacific island represents a very important strategic military base that strengthens the US’s Indo-Pacific strategy. The importance of the island is intertwined with its location on the coasts of China and the US, allowing Washington to exert influence in the region and to administer command and control of the military base.
Why does China use balloons (not satellites) to spy on the US?
In the event of a war in the Taiwan Strait, combatant forces may be sent from Guam to defend the island claimed by China; this can be done with the advantage of having the advantage of greater protection against Chinese sorties from Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan, which is closest to Asia. colossal. However, despite the location of US forces and the island’s protective distance from China, Guam remains vulnerable to Chinese medium-range ballistic missile attack.
Not all spy balloons
For this reason, the island of Guam arouses the curiosity of Chinese military forces. People’s Liberation Army – explains Washington Post citing officials – had sent spy balloons to Hawaii as well as Guam to monitor US military installations.
But the fact that the spy balloon (which China continues to claim as a tool for meteorological research) flew for days over a region of the continental United States was such an absolute novelty that it caused confusion even within the Chinese government. Only the actions of US forces, which shot down three unidentified flying objects last weekend, have fueled the confusion. Only the first of four flying objects destroyed by the United States has been attributed to China’s surveillance strategy.
At this time, US officials are acting cautiously and have yet to acknowledge the authorship of the launch objects flying over Alaska, Canada, and Michigan at the direction of President Joe Biden.
What is this story of “shot” UFOs around the world?
It is currently difficult for US authorities to attribute objects dropped last weekend to intelligence vehicles. John Kirby, strategic communications coordinator at the US National Security Council, said at the moment that there is “no indication of intelligence activity or information gathering by the three objects” that has been seen in recent days between the US and Canada. It’s too early for Kirby himself to trace the source of the raids to China.
Tensions between the two superpowers remain high as seemingly vague theses are confirmed. China’s initial docile and accommodating tone has given way to direct attacks on the US, which has been accused of sending 10 spy balloons into the Asian giant’s airspace. The claim was vehemently denied by the White House.
But Beijing is keeping its voice high. Today, February 15, China accused the United States of flying its own spy balloons over the territory of Xinjiang and Tibet, starting in May 2021, when the People’s Republic began sending US balloons into Chinese airspace. The new accusation was brought by State Department spokesman Wang Wenbin, who added that the US “didn’t say anything about US balloons flying illegally over Chinese airspace.”
“Beijing launches spy balloons to 40 countries”
Wang threatened Beijing last week that it was ready to take countermeasures against US companies that “harm China’s sovereignty and security” in response to US sanctions on six Chinese companies and research centers over the case of the spy balloon.
Japan’s concern
The epic of spy balloons also includes another very important actor for the security of the Asian region. The Japanese government announced for the first time that it has seen three unidentified flying objects flying over southwestern Japan’s Kagoshima prefecture in November 2019 and northeastern Miyagi and Aomori prefectures in June 2020 and September 2021. Beijing, however, denied the allegations, stating that there was no evidence of Japan.
For the executive, led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the plane was “most likely suspected of being Chinese spy balloons”. But the case is shrouded in mystery, and therefore the Japanese Ministry of Defense has asked Beijing to confirm the facts to avoid a repeat of similar contingencies. Tokyo has warned those who want to raid its airspace for intelligence operations: the Japanese government will never accept any violation of its territory.
Therefore, the Japanese Ministry of Defense is considering the possibility of an armed intervention by the Japan Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to shoot down balloons from foreign countries that have illegally entered Japanese airspace.
Under current rules, the SDG can only destroy devices that violate Japanese airspace for self-defense. Foreign planes entering the airspace without the Japanese administration’s permission violate international law, and therefore self-defense forces can take “necessary measures” to remove the plane, according to article 84 of the self-defense law. defense forces But now the government wants to intervene to allow the SDF to use weapons only for self-defense and emergency evacuations. A decision that will make the war of the “perverse” balloons increasingly complex and participatory.
Source: Today IT
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
