In early 2023, a Chinese “weather balloon” flew not only into Canadian airspace, but also Alaska and the lower reaches of U.S. Route 48, making more than enough headlines. Preliminary investigations led by multiple government agencies into one of the balloons shot down off the coast of South Carolina in February have revealed what’s inside.of wall street journal An investigation revealed that the balloon was packed with American technology. In other words, they were not mere weather balloons as claimed by China, but spy devices that used the technology of the countries they spied on.
News of these seemingly low-tech but high-altitude balloons drifting quietly across the continental United States first broke the news in January and February of this year.It was the first time knowledge of these balloons was widely discussed in media reports, but it turned out that China was floating these devices across the United States. Since Donald Trump was the president. Moreover, subsequent investigations revealed that similar Chinese balloons flew over European territory. Asiamore.
What was inside the balloon?
Confounding China’s claims that these intrusion airships were simple weather balloons are a variety of technologies discovered by investigators. The WSJ reported that inside the balloon debris was evidence of a number of U.S.-made devices designed to collect photos, videos and other information. Among the components were satellite-like devices, solar panels for power, propellers, photography, video and radar data gathering devices.
Some US-made intelligence gathering equipment is sold online. However, the inclusion of specialized Chinese-made sensors and other equipment led preliminary investigations to conclude that the Chinese balloons were manufactured for spying purposes.
At the height of the media coverage of China’s reconnaissance balloons, there was talk of the airship being able to collect real-time data and transmit it to the Chinese government. Those concerns were somewhat mitigated by an investigation that suggested the device shot down near South Carolina did not transmit any information to China during its eight-day adventure over the continent. It has not yet been explained whether the failure to transmit data was due to a software or hardware failure, another problem with the balloon, or interference with communications by US authorities.
cool an already chilled relationship
The US and China are already in the middle of a trade war, and retaliatory sanctions appear to be in place against Chinese and US companies. So this new preliminary report showing that Chinese balloons were indeed designed for covert espionage does not soften ties.
