Tensions continue to build between China and the United States following the“Balloon Incident”

Last week, Alaskan residents spotted a large object in the sky. Little did they know that the unknown item was a Chinese spy balloon making its way across American airspace, this Chinese spy balloon has wreaked havoc in its wake. Both literally and figuratively. 

The Chinese spy balloon had traveled through North American skies collecting valuable American intelligence. The Pentagon flew high-altitude U-2 spy planes to examine the gear dangling from the 200-foot balloon. They discovered that it had the ability to conduct “signals intelligence collection operations.” U.S. officials determined that the balloon was Chinese in origin and had been outfitted with surveillance equipment. This equipment included a collection pod and antennas, both with the capabilities to obtain and transport sensitive data. 

A senior State Department official said that the balloon was part of a fleet that had flown over “more than 40 countries across five continents.”

On February 1, just days following the detection of this unsanctioned Chinese intelligence device, United States President Joe Biden authorized the U.S. military to take action and shoot the balloon down. However, the military did not shoot the balloon down until February 4 when it was off the South Carolina coast, three days after President Biden gave his original command. 

This delay was because there was a fear that the balloon’s debris could harm American civilians. Republican Party elected officials have criticized this lack of expedient action by the American military, saying there appeared to be no sense of urgency. Representative Michael McCaul, Republican of Texas and the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said, “I believe the president should have shot it down before it entered American airspace.”

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson has continued to repeat Beijing's assertion that the balloon was an “unmanned Chinese civilian airship” meant to collect meteorological data. Furthermore, she stated that it strayed into U.S. airspace by accident and that shooting it out of the sky was an overreaction by the United States’s government. 

All the while, tensions between the two superpowers have risen. A diplomatic visit by United States Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, meant to reinforce communication and cooperation between China and the U.S, has been indefinitely postponed.  American citizens' concerns over the security of their personal information have risen dramatically. Relations, already frosty, have continued to sour. 

Despite all this uncertainty, one thing remains certain. Unless Chinese and U.S. officials can find some type of common ground, the gulf between these two mighty nations will only continue to grow larger.