The seven-day trek of a balloon across U.S. airspace has dominated the recent news cycle.
Headlines have overwhelmingly referred to the device as a “Chinese spy balloon” with timelines detailing when and where the balloon has traveled.
After entering U.S. airspace above Alaska on Jan. 28, the balloon floated east toward the Carolinas. On Feb. 4, above the coast of South Carolina, an F-22 fighter jet fired a missile to take it down.
More information about the balloon will soon come out from the debris gathered by the military.
The balloon traveled near multiple air force bases that held missiles and potentially sensitive information, prompting criticism from around the nation for allowing it to continue moving over the country.
These fears of high-quality intel gathering capacities may be unfounded.
Another Chinese balloon flying over Colombia on Feb. 3 was declared not to be a national security threat by the Colombian air force.
More importantly, according to a senior Department of Defense official in an off-camera press briefing, the balloon was never considered to be “a military or physical threat to the American people.”
Another anonymous U.S. official has said that the balloon did not seem to have the capability to gather more information about military bases than China’s satellites already in operation.
At this point, it’s unclear what threat the balloon posed or if a threat existed at all.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding the balloon, though, news headlines and public officials’ statements make it seem like there’s no doubt at all about the balloon being a “spy” or surveillance device.
We’ve seen the danger that can come from publicizing unconfirmed narratives in recent years.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, racist and xenophobic language about the coronavirus has been linked to significant increases in anti-Asian hate incidents. Insinuations that Asian people caused the pandemic and the ensuing lockdowns have a direct impact on Asian victimization.
Since March 2020, the Stop AAPI Hate organization has received nearly 11,000 self-reports of hate incidents across the country.
Last month, two mass shootings in California targeting Asian Americans claimed 19 lives within three days.
All of the hate against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in recent years may not be the direct result of harmful rhetoric from the pandemic, but it’s undeniable that anti-AAPI hate continues to be a dangerous issue.
Based on the early months of the pandemic, spreading fear about Chinese spying tactics has the potential to fuel another wave of violence and hate against Asian-Americans.
As far as the claims go that China’s balloon constituted an attack on U.S. sovereignty, the United States should consider its own foreign dealings.
China has ostensibly controlled at least five balloons in the airspace over the Americas in recent years. Their surveillance abilities are yet to be determined.
The United States has a long history of using the armed forces abroad. The U.S. currently has around 750 active military bases in 80 countries around the world and has thousands of troops deployed in various countries.
There are also several examples of U.S. covert operations aimed at influencing other countries’ political or economic systems.
None of this is to say that China’s actions are acceptable or that China should have license to float surveillance devices of any kind over other countries, however, we should be extending the critical lens that we view China through to our own actions.
A war with China would change life as we know it for the worse. The fallout of such a war would uniquely affect Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who are already facing the impacts of xenophobia and hate.
The best possible policy on the U.S.’s side is to pursue diplomacy and reject actions based upon fear and uncertainty.
Katie Hettinga can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @katie_hettinga
Paul
The notion that we should refrain from reacting to unannounced incursions into our airspace because it could result in some random citizens being mean to their neighbors is absurd. Just because their balloon half the size of the statue of liberty did not outwardly appear to be advanced enough to pose a threat does not at all mean we should just assume that. China is one of our main competitors on the world stage and as our rivalry with them has heated up over the last few years, all of a sudden criticism of the Chinese regime has become a dogwhistle for "Asian Hate." If I were China, I would be doing everything in my power to spread that message.
Ron Smith
Many problems here. A few....Both mass shootings cited were family or work related Asian on Asian crimes. Use of either or both incidents is absurd. Arguably, the writer could have done some research. The COVID Xenophobic and racist reference is wrong. Comments were directed to the totalitarian Communist government, not the Chinese people. That is a government that has recently reminded the Chinese people that all things are owned by the government, including, presumably, "weather balloons". No government is perfect, and that includes the US. No matter which party is in power, there is a lot to dislike. Obviously, as bad as we are, we must be the best at many things, otherwise we would not have such an immigration issue/problem. The writer did remind all of us that the US has done bad things too.....it is a "he who is without sin, cast the first stone" thing. And as a consequence of "our" prior bad acts, "we" have to keep "our" mouths shut when China intrudes into our space with probable "spy balloons". I'm not a journalist and I can hardly put two words together, but, the "journalist" needs help.