What the Balloon Saga Tells Us About China’s Espionage Program

Unusually for high-altitude balloons, the Chinese one shot down by the US Air Force in February flew low enough to be seen from the ground. That turned it into a rare, in-your-face symbol for what US officials call an increasingly aggressive, years-long spying campaign by China around the globe. Under President Xi Jinping, China has poured hundreds of billions of dollars into upgrading its military, from nuclear missiles to hypersonic glide vehicles. That apparently includes investing in the so-called near-space arena to improve surveillance capabilities as well.

Officials in China said the airship — whose payload was similar in size to a regional jet — was a civilian weather balloon that blew off course. US President Joe Biden said it was “gathering information over America.” High-resolution imagery provided by U-2 spy planes that flew past the balloon revealed an array of surveillance equipment capable of collecting communications signals, according to a State Department official. The balloon traveled over sensitive military sites and had a small motor and propellers, indicating that it was maneuverable. (According to the Pentagon, US officials took steps — which weren’t detailed — “to protect against the balloon’s collection of sensitive information.”) After a week during which it traversed North America, a US Air Force F-22 Raptor fighter shot it down on Feb. 4 off the South Carolina coast. Navy and Coast Guard personnel were sent to recover the debris in relatively shallow waters a few miles offshore. In the days after, several other airborne objects were shot down, though it wasn’t clear what they were. On Feb. 16, Biden said there was no evidence that they were tied to the balloon incident and were likely connected to commercial or research ventures.