Wolfgang Hansson
Published: Today 06.53
Updated: Today 08.27
This is a commenting text. Analysis and positions are the writer's.
At first, China claimed it was a single weather balloon that had gone off course in US airspace.
Now it turns out that the country has an extensive surveillance program where balloons have flown over five continents for several years. Many have believed that it was about UFOs when it is probably about espionage and intelligence gathering.
Yet another sign that China is acting increasingly arrogant and self-righteous on the world stage.
From being a rather bizarre and mysterious story, I believe the Chinese balloon business will grow into a serious international incident that will further contribute to the Western world's suspicion and ostracism of China.
That countries spy on each other using satellites in space is well known and generally accepted.
But violating other countries' airspace with surveillance balloons the size of commercial aircraft and equipped with advanced technical equipment that can intercept signals and take high-resolution photos is something else entirely, as China has done.
The US sent up a reconnaissance plane to take close-up pictures of the balloon that hovered over the continent in early February and was later shot down. The Pentagon claims the images show the balloon was equipped with arrays of intelligence-gathering antennas that are completely different from the equipment found on weather balloons.
The suspected spy balloon was shot down on Saturday. Photo: Chad Fish/AP
The Pentagon further claims that the balloon was equipped with such powerful solar panels that it could power a number of high-tech information-gathering sensors and that the craft could probably be remotely controlled in the same way as a drone.
These are conclusions that are drawn before they have had time to examine the equipment that was in the balloon that was shot down and landed in relatively shallow water off South Carolina.
Embarrassing
The US has also analyzed previous overflights of craft that at the time were classified as unidentified objects, so-called UFOs, but which it is now certain were Chinese balloons of the same type as the one shot down.
It is clearly worrying and even a little embarrassing for the US security agencies that they were not aware of at least three overflights that took place during Donald Trump's time as president.
But according to the US State Department, the balloons have not only flown over US territory, but through the airspace of some 40 countries.
The US Navy recovers the downed spy balloon in the sea off South Carolina. Photo: US Navy/AP
The ambassadors of these 40 countries have been informed in the hope that they will complain directly to China. Including countries such as Japan, the Philippines and India.
So far, it is not possible to establish with certainty exactly what the Chinese balloons were doing, but considering that it is not an isolated incident, the Chinese explanation of civilian weather balloons that went off course does not feel very credible.
China has carried out these flights in secret, thereby violating the territory of a number of countries.
The Pentagon's position is that if it had been civilian weather balloons, China would have informed the US and other countries in advance and requested permission for the overflights.
Experts have given several explanations for why China uses balloons when it already has satellites.
Cheaper than satellites
Because the balloons are so much closer to the earth's surface, you can take even sharper pictures of, for example, military facilities. The shot-down balloon passed, among other things, several states where the US has its long-range nuclear weapons ready to fire in underground silos.
A balloon moves more slowly over the earth's surface and can therefore intercept telecommunications and mobile calls more easily. The balloons are also significantly cheaper than satellites.
The Pentagon claims that the Chinese company that manufactures the balloons has a very close collaboration with the PLA, the Chinese military.
China's dictator Xi Jinping has presented a vision that in the near future China will be able to match the United States in all areas. He also wants to strengthen China's international power.
In the economic field, he runs the project known in the West as the new Silk Road, which will secure the supply of important raw materials for China and promote trade with other countries. China is also greatly strengthening its military and increasing its possession of nuclear weapons.
Chinese President Xi Jinping. Photo: Jack Taylor/AP
In step with rising power and influence, China appears increasingly self-confident and powerful in the international arena. They ignore the international court's decision that China does not have exclusive rights to the South China Sea and forcefully drive away neighboring countries' boats that fish there.
Prohibits Chinese purchases
The international agreement that would give the former British crown colony of Hong Kong the right to maintain its democratic system at least until 2047 is ignored.
Countries that initiate closer relations with Taiwan are punished.
However, China's brazenness and lack of respect for international law risks backfiring against the aspiring superpower. In the United States, 11 states are in the process of enacting laws that prohibit Chinese citizens from buying land and real estate.
Australia decided this week that for security reasons it must dismantle all Chinese surveillance cameras that have been installed. In the past, the Chinese telecom company Huawei has been ported from a number of Western countries' expansion of the new 5g network.
If the balloons, when the US analyzes the findings from the shot down, turn out to be advanced spy centers, it will further fuel the suspicion and loathing of China and all things Chinese.
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