Should the Suspected “Chinese Spy Balloon” have been shot down?

If you haven’t heard, recently the U.S. took down a suspected spy balloon from China that entered the U.S. radius with a missile. But, should it have been done in the first place?

What is a Spy Balloon?

Before we get to that question, it’s essential to know what a spy balloon is. A spy balloon isn’t a new concept either. According to this article, they were first introduced back in the Civil War to recon around military borders before satellites became commonplace. They would be hot air balloons high up into the sky, having a camera attached to themselves as it floats around the area that they want to keep track of.

(A depiction of how a spy balloon works, is found in this article.)

Even today, with all of the satellites that are more normalized nowadays than ever, some areas of the world still use spy balloons not only because of the cost compared to using satellites but also because of the ability to get additional information that satellites typically could not with having a low chance of being detected by radars as well compared to satellites.  But, what does this have to do with the reasoning for the U.S. shooting the Chinese spy balloon down?

Why did the U.S. shoot it down?

One of the main reasons the U.S. shot down the suspected Chinese balloon was due to the fact that they felt as if the Chinese were purposefully trying to steal information from the U.S., and they didn’t have it.  As shown in this article, GOP Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin stated, “Letting a Chinese surveillance balloon lazily drift over America is like seeing a robber on your front porch and inviting him in, showing him where you keep your safe, where you keep your guns, where your children sleep at night, and then politely asking him to leave. It makes no sense.” From this, it can be suspected that the reason why the U.S. had shot down the suspected Chinese balloon was due to the suspicion of the U.S. having sensitive information being gained that they didn’t want anyone else to have access to.

(U.S. Navy releases photos of them gaining access to the balloon that was shot down, found in this article.)

Furthermore, this article describes how the U.S. found sophisticated equipment within the spy balloon, leading more toward the conspiracy that the balloon was indeed used to spy on the U.S. An anonymous official even stated how the Chinese spy balloon was part of an official fleet of balloons designed to partake in surveillance. From this, it can also be safe to determine that the U.S. had found these things from the balloon, which only strengthened their belief that China sent that balloon purposefully in their direction to spy on the entirety of the U.S. Despite all of this however, what does China have to say about it?

China’s Response

China’s reaction to its balloon being shot down was not taken lightly. In the following article, it is revealed that China felt as if the U.S. was “overreacting” and “Seriously violating international practice.” As well as stating “The Chinese side has repeatedly informed the US side after verification that the airship is for civilian use and entered the US due to force majeure – it was completely an accident.” Chinese Foreign Ministry said. Furthermore, China would also state, “Its unintended entry into U.S. airspace is entirely unexpected and caused by force majeure.” in a press conference. Adding onto that would go on to state how “It didn’t pose any threat to any person or to the national security of the U.S.

(A mapped route of where the Chinese spy balloon went, is found in this article.)

What can be gathered from these responses from China is how it was a complete accident that the balloon had entered the U.S. radius, and it was an overreaction from the U.S. to entirely destroy their balloon. Furthermore, expressing how the balloon had no real harm regardless if it was on purpose or not.

Final Words

But with both sides coming out with their own statements on the balloon combating with one another, what do you think should’ve happened to the balloon? Should it have been shot down way earlier, if at all? Was it really an overreaction of the U.S. to shoot down that balloon, and was the balloon really an accident?