Beijing Balloon Spying on America

For the last several days, the US Defense Department has been watching what is believed to be a Beijing intelligence-gathering balloon moving across northern American states. The balloon's high altitude site-seeing mission is just another example of the People's Republic of China (PRC) intruding on life in the US. Unfortunately, the reconnaissance balloon has been meandering over Montana, and that has Republicans wondering why the Biden administration is dithering about just bringing the balloon down before its surveillance equipment focuses on something vital like Minuteman III nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile installations.

Late on Friday the Pentagon also revealed that a second balloon has been sighted over Latin America. A Department of Defense spokesman confirmed it was another Chinese surveillance craft.

US Department of Defense (DOD) officials have not explained how long the spy balloon has been observed over the US. Still, Pentagon spokesman, Air Force Brigadier General Patrick Ryder, is confident the craft is above commercial airways and also does not present a hazard to people or structures on the ground. Downplaying the incident, "Instances of this kind of balloon activity have been observed previously over the past several years. Once the balloon was detected, the US government acted immediately to protect against the collection of sensitive information," Ryder explained in a Feb. 2 evening Pentagon press statement.

US Will Not Shoot Down Balloon

Additionally, there are no plans to take any positive action to shoot down the lighter-than-air reconnaissance craft. The reasoning is that debris might be a greater hazard falling on Montana's vast open, sparsely populated spaces. In the Pentagon's view, the balloon can continue to float over the US, bobbing about, observing whatever it finds interesting. Nonetheless, Montana legislators want the balloon shot down. "Shoot. It. Down. The Chinese spy balloon is clear provocation. In Montana, we do not bow. We shoot it down. Take the shot," former Navy SEAL Ryan Zinke (R-MT) challenged the Biden administration.

China has admitted the "airship" is theirs. A Chinese Communist Party (CCP) foreign ministry spokesperson explained:

"The airship is from China. It is a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes. Affected by the Westerlies and with limited self-steering capability, the airship deviated far from its planned course. The Chinese side regrets the unintended entry of the airship into US airspace due to force majeure. The Chinese side will continue communicating with the US side and properly handle this unexpected situation caused by force majeure."

So, the CCP, an unapologetically atheist nation, blames an act of God for the errant balloon escapade. Well, Montana legislators aren't buying it. Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) is hopping mad and has called for a comprehensive security briefing. In a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III, Daines wrote, "As you know, Montana plays a vital national security role by housing nuclear missile silos at Malmstrom AFB. Given the increased hostility and destabilization around the globe aimed at the United States and our allies, I am alarmed by the fact that this spy balloon was able to infiltrate the airspace of our country and Montana." Other senators have echoed this sentiment. “A Chinese spy balloon over the US is alarming but not surprising,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) tweeted. “The level of espionage aimed at our country by Beijing has grown dramatically more intense & brazen over the last 5 years.”

DOD Will Monitor Balloon – Very Impressive

A Newsweek report warns the latest meteorological models of winds aloft show a possible trajectory of Beijing’s balloon moving across parts of Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri and could place its course over Whiteman AFB, home of the B-2 bomber, by Saturday, Feb. 4. The fact that the Biden national security team seems unconcerned by the presence of the PRC's intel balloon lingering over the US does raise questions about the administration's resolve in facing America's most prominent military threat. But after having acknowledged the balloon is theirs, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, stressed that China encourages, “that both sides can handle this together calmly and carefully,” according to a New York Post report. Would the CCP act “calmly and carefully,” if roles were reversed?

On Feb. 3, Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed his upcoming visit to China in protest of the PRC’s spying mission. “U.S. officials told reporters on background that Blinken did not want the incident to dominate discussions,” Voice of America reports. “The scheduled visit was the first for Blinken as secretary of state.” Beijing negotiators have used previous talks with the US for theater and dramatic impact – with State Department representatives as potted plants on the stage. When faced with the PRC's provocative behavior, the White House and its defense team like to think they are the adults in the room, taking the geopolitical high road. They are wrong. In the eyes of the rest of the world, the most powerful nation on the planet appears weak and feckless. It's not a good look.

The views expressed are those of the author and not of any other affiliation.