DJ EZZI

a weather research balloon but, in fact, an airship that was used for espionage and was controlled by the Chinese military, the People’s Liberation Army.

According to the Department of Defense, the balloon was bigger than the Stat- ue of Liberty and is believed to have been up to 200 feet tall. That’s comforting.

There are two major concerns arising from this incident: the nation’s security and its relationship with China moving forward.

Many are wondering how China was able to fly its own apparatus into the U.S. air- space without any difficulty. In fact, it has happened at least four other times in recent years. According to a senior U.S. defense official, Chinese balloons crossed over the U.S. at least three times during the Trump administration and at least one other time earlier in the Biden administration. This particular balloon was shot down because it was hovering over a U.S. military site.

The obvious takeaway is that this country is more vulnerable to an attack than we had thought. If a country wants to attack the U.S. it can look to this situation for inspiration. Hopefully, the current administration takes advantage of this cheap lesson and focuses its attention on ensuring the safety and security of this nation from foreign enemies.

The future of the relationship between the U.S. and China is also important. “What the U.S. has done has seriously impacted and damaged both sides’ efforts and progress in stabilizing China-U.S. relations since the Bali meeting,” said China’s Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken did not travel to China in response to the incident, but said that “he would be prepared to visit Beijing as soon as conditions allow.” This was a clever way for Blinken to express his disappointment with China, while leaving the door open for peaceful collaboration. That is the prudent course of action because spying on a country is different than attacking it.

Roman Schweizer, managing director for aerospace and defense at Cowen and Company’s Washington Research Group, said, “Countries spy on each other — on enemies and friends, using all sorts of methods and tech. Getting caught is the risk.”

This is a developing story with more to come once the balloon is analyzed by forensic experts. But the lesson to learn from it is immediate: despite all the technological advancements that this country has made in national security since 9/11, it still has a ways to go.