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THE CHINESE SPY BALLON – WHAT DOES IT MEAN? by Pierre Maertin
The United States news has been buzzing for more than a week now (since January 28th) about a rogue Chinese “weather” balloon that was re-classified by the government and the press as a “spy balloon”.
A day ago it was shot down by a US Air Force F-22 fighter jet when it cleared the mainland and was over the coastline of South Carolina, while questions mounted as to why it was allowed to drift into American airspace.
American gung-ho speculation as to its meaning and the reason our government allowed this Chinese “asset” to continue wandering our airspace reached a climax with some sources claiming it was flying over our missile bases. To make the situation even worse, some news sources are running alarmist headlines like these “China spy balloon shows country is preparing citizens for war …”, a new column scripted by Andrew Miller of Fox News.
A couple of days ago I looked up all news articles pertaining to this “UFO” phenomenon and all the major newsprint online from the US to the UK were chorusing the same thing basically without a single outlet giving us the latest Chinese officials position or comments on the newest development.
After the balloon was shot, News Fox reported China as saying “China confirmed on Friday that it is the owner of a surveillance balloon that it claimed is a civilian research craft that was blown far off course by prevailing winds, adding that it regrets the incident.”Mr. Chang Gordon, an author who was given a pre-eminent podium to fan the flames of the scared American citizens is reported as saying “We know what the Chinese are doing. They’re engaged in the fastest military buildup since the Second World War. They’re trying to sanctions proof their regime and most ominously they’re preparing China’s civilians for war.”
What all of these reports seem to ignore is that the United States has recently flexed military muscle in the South China Sea and explicitly extended its protective military umbrella to Taiwan, a country that has not yet been acknowledged by the UN and which the US spurned for decades without formally establishing diplomatic relations on the chance it might offend or ruin its commercial relations with China.
The American and UK news reports, in covering the spy balloon, further ignore that China has repeatedly stated over the years that Taiwan is Chinese territory indivisible from mainland China. The Taiwanese are considered insurgents, terrorists and rebels who will at some point be re-patriated or taken by force and the Chinese central government will rule Taiwan just like it does in Hong Kong.
So what is the meaning of this lost spy balloon as some in the US call it provocation or prelude to war? Obviously, the Chinese feel slighted by the American military aid to Taiwan and American military forces training with the Taiwanese. China views it as American military incursion on Chinese soil proper, NOT Taiwan. So it is possible the Chinese government set on course a balloon as a token of Chinese military asset over American soil in a show of diplomacy and tact in effect saying
“how do you like it when a foreign power’s military is running all over your territory without permission from the government?”
Perhaps the Chinese were hoping the American public would perceive it as a “walk a mile in our shoes” gesture made without as much as peeping a peep to intent but definitely with a hint of mockery or sarcasm, which Chinese officials have been known to leak or make in their diplomatic comments during the COVID pandemic crisis.
Is the spy balloon China’s way of saying: you Americans can’t tolerate as much as a foreign power’s balloon adrift over your territory how would you stomach if Chinese military forces landed in Texas or Florida and assisted them in seceding from the Union?
My guess it doesn’t matter that the official US position articulated by Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary “The U.S. government … continues to track and monitor it closely. The balloon is currently traveling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic, and does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground. Instances of this kind of balloon activity have been observed previously over the past several years”. The news press has already shot out of the editorial room at warped speed with their versions of events and the implications already made for us. I have seen even more alarmist headlines proclaiming war with China is imminent by 2025. If you are crying out as a Satanic worshipper wanting for global nuclear annihilation with all of your evil wretched soul, you would most definitely be selling to the masses these incitation-prone headlines.
Are we taking sides by running this piece? No, the publisher is neither for nor against any side but we are aghast at the manner the official press is running headlines with blinders on without taking in any sort of bigger picture into context – except one that would create fear and paranoia and a lust for wholesale destruction.
Oh well, we all should expect reprints, corrections (spins and re-spins), retractions and perhaps even apologies to follow in the coming weeks.
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