Just after tracing and shooting of an alleged Chinese spy balloon by the US, Beijing has been alleged to have operated a fleet of spy balloons targetingseveral countries, including India and Japan. Recently the US military shotdown a Chinese “surveillance” craft floating over sensitive installations in thecountry. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman briefed (February 6)officials from about 40 Embassies in Washington about it and cautioned about the threats and dangers of China’s balloon surveillance.
Earlier on February 4, US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin informed that USfighter aircraft assigned to US Northern Command successfully shot down the high-altitude surveillance balloon belonging to China over the water off the coast of South Carolina in US airspace. He alleged that the balloon was used by China in an attempt to conduct surveillance of strategic sites in the continental US and revealed that it was shot down above US territorial waters.
Although US President Joe Biden said that Chinese spy balloon that transited from Canada to the US was not a major security breach, the US House of Representatives voted (February 5) to pass a resolution condemning China’s use of the suspected surveillance balloon in a rare moment of unity in a sharply divided chamber. China acknowledged that the balloon belonged to it, but it claimed that it was a civilian research vessel and was not being used for surveillance. The Chinese government expressed its “strong dissatisfaction and protest” against the US decision to shoot it down, accusing the US of
“overreacting” and “seriously violating international practice.”
But the US maintained that the presence of the balloon was a violation of international law. Subsequently a report of Washington Post claimed that “these balloons are all
part of a PRC (People’s Republic of China) fleet of balloons developed to conduct surveillance operations” and added that “the surveillance balloon effort
has been “operated for several years partly out of Hainan province off China’s south coast, and “has collected information on military assets in countries and
areas of emerging strategic interest to China, including Japan, India, Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines.”
The US government was alarmed because China is already alleged for using many other tactics to cull strategically important and vital data including patents
and classified ones in the US as well as other parts of the world. For quite some time, the Chinese tech companies are suspected to have facilitated supply of
data from other countries’ communication systems and networks where their equipment is used. Even as these companies continue to be seen with
suspicion and some of them are banned in the US and some other countries, the balloon spying has appeared as another form of strategic threat emanating
from China to other countries.
Conjecturing on the capabilities of the Chinese surveillance balloon, a senior US State Department official said that it “was capable of conducting signals
intelligence collection operations” and was part of a fleet that had flown over “more than 40 countries across five continents.” The Biden administration has
determined that the Chinese balloon was operating with electronic surveillance technology capable of monitoring US communications. However, the
investigations by FBI are still incomplete.
The Pentagon noted that this is not the first time this type of balloon has crossed into US air space, and in recent days similar balloons have been spotted in Latin
America, also confirmed to be Chinese. The US Air Force and FBI are still working to interpret the “payload” the balloon was carrying. US State Department spokesperson Ned Price in a press briefing said that Washington will look at continuing the broader efforts to expose and address China’s larger surveillance activities that pose a threat to its security and that to its allies. He added that the US is exploring taking action against Chinese entities linked to the PLA that supported the balloon’s incursion into US airspace.
Ned said, “We are always going to protect our interests; we did so in the tactical case of this balloon.” “We will look at continuing these broader efforts to expose
and to address PRC’s larger surveillance activities that pose a threat to our national security and that to our allies and partners as well,” he added.
The US State Department official alleged that China acted “irresponsibly” by violating the US sovereignty, calling it a “profoundly irresponsible act.” He stated
that China’s “irresponsible actions” were visible to the US and to the world. “China has a lot to answer for they are presumably getting questions from
countries all over the world about the nature of this program and about these violations in some 40 countries across five continents.”
Expressing his remarks on engaging with partners of the US on the issue, Ned Price said, “We have engaged with them via the state department in
Washington and our embassies around the world. This is a program that threatened and violated not only our sovereignty but also the sovereignty of
dozens of countries.” He further said, “We think it’s important to share what it is that we know to hear questions and to answer questions from allies and
partners around the world and to approach this challenge as we have many other challenges we face from the PRC with allies and partners by our side.”
China-US relation has been passing through rough patches.
The balloon episode has led to a surge in US-China tensions at a time when the relationship is already at one of its lowest point in decades. Although top American official
maintain that they are interested to keep channels of communication open, the clashing narratives over the balloon are sowing more conflict.
According to the United States Institute of Peace, the political, diplomatic and reputational cost of this incident on Beijing is high. The incident also raises
question about why China’s top leader would have gambled the chance to lower tensions with the US for low-value intelligence.
The threat perception due to Chinese surveillance balloon has arisen from a doubt that the balloon may be linked to China’s Strategic Support Force (SSF),
which is responsible for the strategic space, cyber and electronic warfare missions for China’s military. Some reports also suggest the SSF has a
programme to position reconnaissance balloons to conduct continuous surveillance at fixed points, a function satellites cannot perform. They also opine
that the balloon tactics is part of China’s military-civil fusion policies as such balloons are operated by private sector entities.
Till US investigation is complete, the world would take these balloons as a global threat. This is also due to China’s poor credentials in the international arena regarding its intent to respect sovereignty and security and strategic interests of other countries as seen in the South China Sea, Indo-Pacific and South Asia regions. A Global power which China is so desperate to become is never made by stealth or by economic and military might alone. A global power should inspire trust and in case of China that remains seriously wanting. The balloon incident has again punctured trust in China.