The Chinese spy balloon that disrupted commercial airspace around Billings, Montana, and then floated across the country this weekend, is a “wake up call” to the communist country’s larger threat of war, according to military experts who have been charting Beijing’s expansion for decades.
On background, Secrets was told today that China has had spy balloons over the United States in the past but are usually controlled and kept out of public sight. The one that flew over Montana was likely out of control.
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“There are a lot of these things bumping around,” said a military insider. “It’s a great wake up call and an absolute provocation and shows what we could be up against.”
Some in military circles said that the balloon, which could be a platform for bombs or attack on the electric grid with a small nuclear weapon, gave the public a peek at the Chinese provocations the Pentagon has been tabulating for years.
“There has been a frustration inside the Pentagon that nobody is telling the public what is going on. But a picture is worth a thousand words,” added the source in a reference to the video and photos of the Chinese spy balloon floating over the U.S.
It came as China has been building up its military and expanding its forward strategy without much push back from the U.S. The administration’s decision to just let the balloon travel across the nation untouched was the latest sign that the nation isn’t ready to engage China when provoked, said the sources.
In another example of China’s military moves allowed to proceed unchecked, Secrets was provided the unclassified “threat” briefing of the construction of a base in the South China Sea that many officials view as a staging base for an attack on Taiwan.
For years, China has built up the reef into a major base and landing field. China has a total of 27 “outposts” now in the area.
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The briefing showed how quickly China has built up its military and how it will in just two years equal the Pacific forces of the combined U.S., Australian, South Korean and Japanese presence in the area.
Taken together, the actions by China are considered “desensitizing activities” meant to lull the U.S. and its allies into watching but not reacting until it is too late, said a military expert.
