China Detects an Unidentified Object, Too?

China claims it has an unidentified object over its territory and is preparing to shoot it down. Is this a "me too" moment for Beijing? Apparently China has felt left out amid the commotion over recent US and Canadian encounters with suspected Chinese surveillance balloons. To remedy the lack of media attention, the People's Republic of China (PRC) now claims an unidentified object violated its airspace. It's unclear if the report from the PRC is accurate or just a ruse to deflect attention from Beijing flouting international law by sending intelligence-collecting balloons into North America.

"Local maritime authorities in East China's Shandong Province announced on Sunday [Feb. 12] that they had spotted an unidentified flying object in the waters near the coastal city of Rizhao in the province and were preparing to shoot it down, reminding fishermen to be safe via messages," tweeted Global Times, the Chinese Communist Party state media. But no word at this writing as to whether the People's Liberation Army (PLA) actually shot down anything. What the announcement did do was provide a pretext for accusing the US of using spy balloons.

Unidentified Object Over China a Deflection Gambit

In fact, on Monday (Feb. 13), Beijing blamed the US for numerous balloon overflights of the Chinese mainland. "China on Monday said more than 10 US high-altitude balloons have flown in its airspace during the past year without its permission, following Washington's accusation that Beijing operates a fleet of surveillance balloons around the world," the Associated Press stated. According to press reports, during a regularly scheduled press conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin, with no evidence to back up his claims, asked, "How many spy balloons has the US released into the world? In its heart, the US knows very well. It's clear to the entire international community who is the world's largest spying and surveillance empire." The attempt to start a blame game to take attention away from Beijing's intelligence-gathering airships intercepted and shot down over North America was weak.

Nonetheless, the White House -- with a documented, demonstrable balloon infestation problem -- was quick to respond: "Any claim that the US government operates surveillance balloons over the PRC is false. It is China that has a high-altitude surveillance balloon program for intelligence collection that it has used to violate the sovereignty of the US and over 40 countries across 5 continents," Adrienne Watson, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council, tweeted. Doubling down on the US denials of having an airborne inflatable spy program, John Kirby, the National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, "emphatically denied that the US is flying balloons over China's airspace, saying Beijing's claim is 'absolutely not true,'" Politico reported.

If there was an unidentified object surveilling the Chinese mainland, as Beijing claims, we will never know for sure. But the attempt to refocus blame for worldwide spying by balloons speaks loudly that the PRC is trying to deflect guilt. Meanwhile, the US Air Force is getting a lot of training in air-to-air, live-fire missile engagements with PLA balloons as targets.

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