Ale‘Affaire du Ballon’: How a Chinese surveillance balloon became a microcosm of US-China geopolitical tensions. India banned more Chinese betting and lending apps. NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg says, “China is not an adversary of NATO.” India and the US hold important technology talks with a focus on China. chinscope His eye was as much on the balloon as it was on Beijing – and the world.
China in a week
A giant balloon hovering over the US state of Montana became a sensation on Thursday after Pentagon officials described it as a People’s Republic of China (PRC) surveillance object. was near the balloon traveled in Canada before entering Montana. US officials then decided to make the information public by telling the media why they believed the balloon was a surveillance device to identify military and strategic sites in the country.
the pentagon on sunday Free A statement confirming that the balloon was shot down by an F-22 Raptor that took off from Langley Air Force Base Order President Joe Biden’s.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said, “The balloon, which the PRC was using in an effort to survey strategic sites in the continental United States, was brought over US territorial waters.”
The Chinese Foreign Ministry expressed “strong dissatisfaction” and “protest” against the US shooting down of what it called a “civilian unmanned aerial vehicle”. US officials say the balloon’s travel trajectory close to key defense sites proves it was not some benign ‘meteorological airship’.
austin said balloon Event “unacceptable violation” of US sovereignty.
“China expresses its strong dissatisfaction with and protests against the use of force by the United States to attack the civilian unmanned airship. After verification, China has repeatedly informed the US side that the airship is I am a citizen of the United States and entered the United States due to unforeseen circumstances, which was a purely accidental situation,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in its statement.
On 4 February, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Wang Yi, now director of the Foreign Affairs Commission, to defuse tensions as news of the Chinese balloon spread around the world. This push to contact China’s Foreign Affairs Commission director marks a subtle break from the past, as US secretaries of state had access to Chinese foreign ministers, not the country’s Foreign Affairs Commission directors.
But tensions between the two sides over the balloons, which have relatively limited surveillance capabilities, reflect a growing trust gap that won’t be bridged anytime soon.
Beijing was not Happy that Blinken postponed his trip after the balloon incident. It played down their canceled visit by declaring that “nothing was planned” from either side. The Chinese Foreign Ministry’s statement was in stark contrast to its January 17 announcement, where the spokesperson welcomed Blinken’s then-upcoming visit to China.
The hashtag ‘The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Stated the US Claims to Shoot Down Our Unmanned Airship’ has more than 22 million views on Weibo – and continues to grow. The search trend on Baidu ‘State Ministry responds to US claim that it shot down a Chinese airship’ was the second leading trend.
Video of the balloon being shot down began circulating on Sunday morning Beijing time, with screengrabs appearing from US news stations reporting the incident.
“Although China has clearly and unequivocally explained that the balloon seen in the US is a civilian vessel designed for meteorological use, and that its entry into the US was unintentional, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has cited as an excuse to postpone his planned trip to China,” Said A China Daily Article.
The balloon saga reminded people of a 2001 incident in which a US Navy EP-3E ARIES II surveillance jet crashed on China’s Hainan Island after colliding with a Chinese PLAAF J-8 aircraft. The J-8 pilot went missing and was presumed dead, while the 24-man US Navy crew was detained and interrogated by the Chinese. The incident was followed by talks between US and Chinese officials, where Beijing agreed to destroy the plane and return it to Washington.
But what does this event mean for India?
A’s Darshan Similar On 7 January 2022, a balloon-like object was reported over Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, where the Indian Army and Indian Navy have a strategic presence. Another sighting was reported in Japan in 2020.
The incident prompted Chinese social media users to call the object a ‘wandering balloon’, comparing it to the hit Chinese sci-fi film ‘Wandering Earth’. Some users also compared the balloon to the ‘sky lantern’ used in China’s Lantern Festival, which is celebrated every year on February 5.
“It is not a spy balloon; It’s a sky lantern,” Said a Weibo user.
Beijing is not backing down from its stand. China’s embassy in Washington has said the Chinese side “reserves the right to respond” to the US decision to shoot down its balloon.
“Under such circumstances, the US side insists on the use of force, which is clearly an over-reaction and a serious violation of international practice. China will fully protect the legitimate rights and interests of relevant enterprises, while reserving the right of reply. Reading Chinese Embassy statement
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China in world news
The US-India partnership may have taken a backseat since the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine. But that changed last week.
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan to launch the initiative on critical and emerging technologies.
Under this initiative, both the governments will work on emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence as well as quantum and advanced wireless technologies. The initiative seeks to resolve regulatory hurdles in collaboration with advanced technology, including expediting US company General Electric’s application to manufacture jet engines in India. India is looking to work with GE to manufacture GE-414 engines for its indigenous fighter jet Light Combat Aircraft (LCA).
Although there was no mention of China in the press release of the meetings, the underlying initiative of defense cooperation was a clear signal to Beijing.
The focus was on defense as much as on emerging technologies Cooperation With an eye on “identifying maritime security and Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance (ISR) operational use cases”. Emerging technologies in the cyber domain present new challenges that may have wider societal risks.
India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has banned around 230 apps, including those that promote betting and lending. Chinese loan apps have been a threat in India for a long time. Some offer easy loans, where interest rates can go up to 3,000 per cent annually. If payments are not made, producers harass borrowers with morphed images.
The latest action follows the Indian government’s decision to ban several Chinese apps, which have been called a serious threat to national security due to their data collection practices.
In terms of NATO in Asia, Beijing has found favor to no end. As Stoltenberg began his Asia tour, he had something to say about China.
“What is happening in Europe today could happen in East Asia tomorrow. China is not an opponent of NATO. But its growing assertiveness and its repressive policies have consequences. For your security in the Indo-Pacific. And in the Euro-Atlantic Ours,” said Stoltenberg in his remarks at Keio University in Tokyo.
recently, live mint informed of Senior NATO officials will hold strategic talks with Indian officials with a focus on China.
From Stoltenberg’s visit, we can learn that NATO believes that its interest in Euro-Atlantic security is linked to events in Asia – including the Taiwan Strait and bordering India – where the economic shockwaves from a conflict all NATO countries will be affected.
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The writer is a columnist and freelance journalist. He was previously China media correspondent with the BBC World Service. He is currently a MOFA Taiwan Fellow based in Taipei and tweets @aadilbrar. Thoughts are personal.
(Edited by Zoya Bhatti)