CCP ‘Meteorological Research Balloon’ Is Affiliated With the Military: Analysts

Analysts say the shooting down of spy balloon is a must

Suspected Chinese spy balloon seen in the sky over the United States. Chase Doak/AP/Screenshot via NTD

After the United States shot down the Chinese spy balloon on Saturday, Beijing protested and said it’s “the U.S. attack on a civilian unmanned airship by force.” But Chinese analysts agreed that the shooting down of the balloon was necessary to address the aggression of the Chinese regime.

On Feb. 5, Beijing issued a statement saying that it is a “clear overreaction and a serious violation of international practice” from the United States, and China will “safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the company concerned.”

Earlier, Beijing admitted that the balloon was from China, was of a civilian nature, and was for the purpose of meteorological research, said a foreign ministry press communique on Feb. 3.

Analysts told the Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times that obviously the United States did not fall for Beijing’s claim of a civilian and research airship.

Civil-Military Integration

Writer Li Mianxuan explained that under the ruling of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the regime controls all resources, so the CCP used the claim of a civilian company owning the balloon to cover its military purpose.

To ensure its autocracy, the state always owns part of the civilian stakes. He said, “Civilian organizations are obligated to serve the best interests  of national security under the National Security Law.”

(Left) The Chinese balloon drifts to the ocean after being shot down off the coast in Surfside Beach, S.C., on Feb. 4, 2023. (Right) The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson participates in a group sail during the Rim of the Pacific exercise off the coast of Hawaii, on July 26, 2018. Randall Hill/Reuters; Petty Officer 1st Class Arthurgwain L. Marquez/U.S. Navy via AP

For instance, according to the CCP’s National Security Law, under item 4 of Article 77, citizens and organizations should provide “convenient conditions or other kinds of assistance to national security work.”

As early as 1969, the CCP merged the Military Meteorological Bureau of the General Staff and the Central Meteorological Bureau, according to a joint notice by the State Council and the Central Military Commission.

The merger was to “Implement centralized and unified leadership over meteorological work, for both peacetime and wartime, to facilitate national defense construction, and national economic construction,” said Notice number 50 (1969), dated Dec. 4, 1969.

In 2017, the CCP further regulated a close civil-military integration (CMI) strategy in the national defense science and technology industry.

The purpose of the integration was to “allow military and civilian resources to share and support each other and be effectively commercialized,” according to the stated opinion of the CMI.

Wu Zuolai, a U.S.-based Chinese scholar who survived the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre, said the entry of the balloon over U.S. air was a symbolic move of the CCP. He said, “If it’s tolerated, many more will follow, balloon, drone, whatever,” along with the equipment attached to the balloon. He agreed with the U.S. government’s response to the balloon.

Zhang Xiaogang, one of the organizers of the Australian Value Alliance, also an expert in computer science, suspects that the Chinese balloon was testing the efficiency of the U.S. air defense system.

But above all, he believes that the CCP’s intention was to demonstrate its aggression. He said, “It’s a public challenge to the United States, … especially [since] the balloon could also collect information,” such as radio and communication information.

In Feb. 2022, the Chinese National Defense Ministry published an article on the military balloon.

The article titled, “Military Balloon: Floating in the Battlefield Cracks,” emphasized the characteristics of the military balloon as “a low-cost operation,” that is “capable of carrying loads up into the air,” “has been used for air defense and bombing,” and “has been used in the cracks of the battlefield.”

The national defense article concluded: “The military balloon will continue to be used in the cracks of the battlefield for a long time.”

Haizhong Ning and Luo Ya contributed to this report.