In early February, Colombian officials discovered an object in the sky with   “characteristics similar to a balloon” in its airspace. Since this discovery, these balloons have been reported to have been spotted in a multitude of countries including the United States. 

     Chinese Military experts said that these balloons are “a new front for militarization” and “an important field of competition among the world’s military powers.” 

     The Chinese Military has been known in recent news for their creation of new high-tech weaponry and surveillance technology, which is shown in play with the sightings of these various balloons. Creations such as solar-powered drones, stratospheric airships and many other developments have taken an interest in American news after the discovery of the balloons. 

     “It had multiple antennas to include an array likely capable of collecting and geo-locating communications. It was equipped with solar panels large enough to produce the required power to operate multiple active intelligence collection sensors,” a State Department official said on Feb. 9.

     These claims later came out as false by the Chinese government but U.S. officials are still claiming otherwise, leaving the general public to question the intentions of this “surveillance” system.

     In recent history, the United States government and China have had several altercations over a widespread issue. This includes economic affairs, especially concerning the treatment of adult and child workers in Chinese factories, with the law banning goods produced by forced labor in the United States. These high-end tensions over socioeconomic differences have been an issue between China and America for several decades. 

     “Certainly all of our strategic assets, we made sure were buttoned down and movement was limited and communications were limited so that we didn’t expose any capability unnecessarily,” Defense Secretary, Austin Lloyd said.

     Meaning that the threat of surveillance through the Chinese government isn’t completely out of the clear, but the U.S. government is trying to find out more about these balloons in the next couple of days to go forward with a response regarding the balloons.