Article in The Times of Israel by Andy Blumenthal: Unfortunately, the longer we gazed up at the sky, procrastinated, and let this Chinese surveillance craft collect and send important information to China, the worse it was for our global reputation, vital national security, deterrence for future military engagement, and priceless sovereignty and freedom. That balloon should have been found, shot down, and caught in real time off the Alaskan coast, not days later after traversing our country and ending up so near our capital. For many, this situation may be a national embarrassment, but more importantly, it has compromised our national security.

1. 2/5/23, 7:17 AM Stopping China's Spy Balloon | Andy Blumenthal | The Blogs
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/stopping-chinas-spy-balloon/ 1/6
THE BLOGS
Andy Blumenthal
Leadership With Heart
Stopping China’s Spy
Balloon
ADVERTISEMENT

2. 2/5/23, 7:17 AM Stopping China's Spy Balloon | Andy Blumenthal | The Blogs
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/stopping-chinas-spy-balloon/ 2/6
Credit Photo: Kellepics via https://pixabay.com/photos/fantasy-landscape-balloon-fairytale-2701633/
The U.S. was able to destroy the Chinese spy balloon that had flown into our
airspace and been flying over our country unhindered since at least Wednesday,
when it was found over Billings, Montana.
The Chinese Threat
China’s balloon, the size of three buses, was detected over an area of the state of
Montana, where, as the Wall Street Journal acknowledges, the U.S. houses an
arsenal of 150 nuclear Minuteman III ICBMs. At 60,000 feet, China’s spy balloon
(although it ridiculously claims it is an off-course weather balloon) is able to
linger and presumably take clear photos of not only this classified military area
but also of our geographic terrain, defenses, and critical infrastructure,
including energy, communications, transportation, and computing centers.
Many analysts have brushed off these claims too quickly by saying that China’s
low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites can already provide this information. But no one
knows yet what China’s brazen spy balloon can really do or how dangerous it is,

3. 2/5/23, 7:17 AM Stopping China's Spy Balloon | Andy Blumenthal | The Blogs
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/stopping-chinas-spy-balloon/ 3/6
especially since it could include advanced intelligence, surveillance, and
reconnaissance (ISR) and artificial intelligence (AI).
Spying Capabilities
As former FBI counterintelligence official Frank Montoya said in the same Wall
Street Journal article today:
While balloons may seem “old-school,” no one can say the true capabilities of
this Chinese spy platform. Clearly, if China expended the time and resources
and was even willing to enter into conflict with the US over it, then these
balloons (a second one has now been discovered flying over South America)
must give China some sort of advantage. In fact, there is concern that, like with
hypersonic missiles, China has gotten ahead of the U.S. here too. This is even
more reason to stop China from invading our borders, seize their advanced
technology, study it, and, if necessary, copy and improve it.
U.S. National Sovereignty
By sending this surveillance balloon over the U.S., China has directly violated
our national sovereignty. China is sending a clear message to the U.S. that if we
interfere in their self-declared “One-China” policy (that Taiwan is an integral
part of China), then China will violate our national sovereignty. In a very public
show, our military had to shoot down China’s invasive surveillance balloon in
order to keep U.S. sovereignty clear.
Military Deterrence
In April 2001, when a U.S. EP-3 intelligence aircraft flew 70 miles out from
China’s Hainan Island Province, an interceptor fighter plane from China collided
with it and downed the U.S. aircraft over the South China Sea. Moreover China
took the 24 U.S. crew members “hostage” for 11 days and dismantled and
They did it because they could. And we are alarmed. ”
“

4. 2/5/23, 7:17 AM Stopping China's Spy Balloon | Andy Blumenthal | The Blogs
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/stopping-chinas-spy-balloon/ 4/6
studied our aircraft for three months before returning it in pieces. China’s
message of deterrence was clear to us, and our message needed to be
immediately and crystal clear to them by bringing their balloon down and
capturing what we can from it for our counterintelligence. Moreover, had we not
brought down China’s balloon, then we would have looked weak and inept.
The U.S. had said that they were afraid that bringing down the Chinese balloon
would cause dangerous debris to fall on us, yet this sounded completely
fictitious considering that the balloon was initially over a hardened military
installation in a sparsely populated area, and we would have been in control of
the time and place to bring the balloon down. Unfortunately, we wasted valuable
time by waiting until the balloon was over on the other side of the country in
the waters off the Carolinas before taking action. This gave the Chinese a lot of
time to gather information all across our country.
Conclusion
To put it simply, the only real reasons I can think of for not shooting down
China’s balloon right away are the following:
1. Vulnerability: Perhaps the Chinese had exposed a vulnerability in our
detection and/or defenses, or we were concerned that we may not have the
ability to strike the maneuverable balloon with pinpoint accuracy. That would
have shown we were not able to stop this violation of our airspace in a timely
and effective way.
2. Unknown Dangers: It was not clear whether there were any dangerous
substances or weapons on board the Chinese balloon. What if, for example,
there was radiological material on the balloon, and by attempting to destroy
it, we would have ended up spreading radiological contamination over our
own people and land?

5. 2/5/23, 7:17 AM Stopping China's Spy Balloon | Andy Blumenthal | The Blogs
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/stopping-chinas-spy-balloon/ 5/6
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Andy Blumenthal is a dynamic, award-winning leader who writes frequently about Jewish life,
culture, and security. All opinions are his own.
Certainly, we needed to be clear about the potential threats that this balloon
posed to us, as well as our military and technological capacity to stop the
incursion and capture and study the Chinese craft. Moreover, it is bad enough
that China already poses the “greatest long-term threat” to the United States,
especially in terms of cybersecurity, but we should not add to that this brazen
Chinese incursion that went unopposed for so many days. Unfortunately, the
longer we gazed up at the sky, procrastinated, and let this Chinese surveillance
craft collect and send important information to China, the worse it was for our
global reputation, vital national security, deterrence for future military
engagement, and priceless sovereignty and freedom. That balloon should have
been found, shot down, and caught in real time off the Alaskan coast, not days
later after traversing our country and ending up so near our capital. For many,
this situation may be a national embarrassment, but more importantly, it has
compromised our national security.
ADVERTISEMENT
AdChoices Sponsored

6. 2/5/23, 7:17 AM Stopping China's Spy Balloon | Andy Blumenthal | The Blogs
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/stopping-chinas-spy-balloon/ 6/6
Conversation
Log in Sign up
Be the first to comment...
Powered by Terms | Privacy | Feedback