Shar is a spy from China. What is the US afraid of?

A Chinese wolf was spotted in the northern part of the United States, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken canceled a visit to Beijing scheduled for February 5-6 because of it.

A new escalation between the United States and China is related to the appearance of a Chinese balloon in the airspace of the United States. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken postponed his February 5-6 visit to Beijing because of this. After the Americans shot the wolf, Chinese authorities warned the US that they “reserve the right to take all necessary measures.” Some analysts believe the incident could have far-reaching implications for the confrontation between China and the US.

What is the ball?

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the balloon spotted in the US belonged to China. However, the Chinese Foreign Ministry claimed that it was a research balloon, mainly used for meteorological purposes. Under the influence of the wind, it said in a statement, he lost control and “severely veered off course.”

However, on February 4, the Americans still shot the wolf. The Pentagon monitored the facility for several days; US President Joe Biden ordered to shoot him on February 1, but the military did not do it, for fear of being destroyed on the ground. As a result, the wolf was shot when it was over the American coast; for this, F-22 fighters were lifted into the air.

The meaning of his appearance

The balloon is a technology that is considered a thing of the past. It is unlikely that a reconnaissance balloon would be able to provide new information to China, which previously received data from satellites.

Experts suggest that the appearance of a balloon in US airspace could be some kind of signal to the Chinese authorities, which they decided to send on the eve of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s visit to China.

In particular, such an opinion was expressed by Benjamin Ho, an expert on China at the Singapore Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies. He emphasized that China has many more effective ways to spy on US infrastructure, so he admitted that the purpose of the balloon launch was to study the response of US authorities.

“It’s quite possible that detection is the goal itself. China could use the balloon to demonstrate its technological capabilities to penetrate US airspace without the risk of a major escalation,” suggested Arthur Holland Michael of the Carnegie Council on Ethics in International Relations. .

Other experts believe that balloons should not be underestimated and can be an effective way to gather intelligence. The main advantages of balloons are their low cost, as well as the ability to control, which allows them to stay in one place and collect information about a specific area from a relatively close distance for an extended period of time. that period of time.

Reaction in the US

The Pentagon said that this is not the first Chinese balloon on the territory of the United States – at least three flights were recorded during the presidency of Donald Trump, but then it happened only in border areas. Trump administration officials, in turn, claim that the military did not report to them about it, and the former president himself said that such accusations are being made to deflect criticism from the Biden administration.

Republicans, CNN wrote, criticized Biden for refusing to immediately lower the balloon. It is possible that the US President will now have to take a tougher public position on the incident. This, in turn, may cause a negative reaction from Beijing and, as a result, make it difficult to normalize relations between China and the United States, which the authorities of the two countries hope for before the visit of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to Beijing. Because of the balloon, Blinken’s visit was postponed indefinitely, but not canceled entirely.