US President Joe Biden’s administration was accused by Democrats and Republicans alike of initially being negligent and passive in its response to the sighting of a suspected Chinese spy balloon across US territory. However, once reports about the balloon’s presence broke, the US’ democratic institutions demonstrated their advantages as the nation quickly set its house in order and moved from defensive to offensive action.
Out of concern for the safety of people on the ground, as well as the need to collect wreckage from the balloon, the US military waited until the balloon flew out over the coast of South Carolina before shooting it down. It then promptly released images of the wreckage being collected, and handed the debris over to the FBI for analysis.
The US Department of Commerce immediately added five Chinese companies and one research institute with close ties to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) aerospace program to its export control Entity List, and further sanctions might follow.
On Thursday last week, the US House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution condemning China for “brazen violation of United States sovereignty,” demonstrating cross-party unity in the face of foreign threats, and sending a firm and clear message to the Chinese authorities.
Representatives from both parties also called on the executive branch to actively deter foreign adversaries from surveillance and other malicious acts on US territory or in its airspace.
The resolution asked the Biden administration to provide a complete account of all known infiltrations of US airspace in recent years and any information about China using similar surveillance balloons anywhere else in the world.
On Wednesday last week, Pentagon press secretary Pat Ryder said that the US Department of Defense knew of four previous incidents of Chinese surveillance balloons passing over US territory, three of which occurred during the administration of former US president Donald Trump and the fourth soon after Biden took office.
A department official told a US Senate hearing that Chinese surveillance balloons had been spotted around the world, including in Europe, Latin America and Southeast Asia. The official named Taiwan, Japan, India, Vietnam and the Philippines as having been affected.
The US Department of State has said that it has shared information gathered from the downed balloon with dozens of countries, and US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman briefed the embassies of 40 countries on the matter, with Japan being one of the main partners for sharing specific intelligence details.
Unlike the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which said it is not at liberty to state whether it received a briefing or intelligence from the US, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno was more forthcoming. Matsuno confirmed that Tokyo is coordinating and communicating with the Biden administration to review and analyze similar incidents in Japan over the past few years.
Records show that at least three foreign balloons have passed through Japanese airspace during the period. At the time, Japanese officials denied suggestions that the balloons might belong to foreign governments, but now they need to review and re-evaluate these incidents.
Japanese Minister of Defense Yasukazu Hamada initially took an ambiguous stance on this question, but after the latest balloon incident escalated into a security crisis, he made it clear that the Japan Self-Defense Forces are legally entitled to shoot down any foreign balloon that encroaches on the nation’s airspace.
Taiwan’s military should follow the example set by the US and Japan by no longer dragging its feet over reacting. It should take the initiative to teach the public a lesson about national defense by announcing any incursion by spy balloons.
More importantly, as with the precedent of treating drone incursions into Taiwan’s territorial airspace as a “first strike,” the Ministry of National Defense should announce what countermeasures it is prepared to take.
It should also report on any such incidents in real time, as it does when monitoring the movements of PLA planes and ships in the vicinity of Taiwan.
Chen Yung-chang is a company manager.
Translated by Julian Clegg
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