US-China rivalry is ramping up

The United States’ move to down objects in the sky underlines anxiety about China and a hardening of stances

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a set of flying objects that couldn’t be identified, of varying shapes and sizes, that has sent the most powerful nation on the planet into a tailspin. For the fourth time in eight days, a high-flying object was knocked out of the sky by United States (US) military jets over Lake Huron in Michigan on Sunday. A statement by the Pentagon said President Joe Biden ordered the object to be shot down after its path and altitude raised concerns. Whether the craft — an eight-sided structure with strings hanging off but no discernible payload — had surveillance capabilities is not known, though the US said it had not ruled out any possibilities.

This burst of bizarre activity has sparked speculation and panic in equal measure, even suggestions that some of these objects may have extra-terrestrial origins. (AFP)

Here’s what we know. In late January, a giant Chinese balloon drifted for days through US skies before being shot down on February 4 by a F-22 jet off the South Carolina coast. China insisted the balloon was conducting weather research. The Pentagon said it had a gondola the size of three buses and was equipped with multiple antennas. Then on Friday, jets downed another object off northern Alaska. It was much smaller than the Chinese balloon. On Saturday, a F-22 jet blasted a “high-altitude airborne object” out of the sky in Canada’s Yukon territory. But little is known about the origins of the second, third and fourth objects, their trajectory and journey, and what they intended to do. Divers are scouring the waters in the Great Lakes region and off the coast of South Carolina, but the debris hasn’t thrown up definitive answers.

This burst of bizarre activity has sparked specu-lation and panic in equal measure; there are suggestions that some of these objects may have extra-terrestrial origins. The reality, though, is likely to be more mundane. The US is watching its skies far more closely since the Chinese balloon drifted inland and has calibrated its radars and sensors to pick up objects it would have discarded as clutter earlier. Political pressure is also mounting on Mr Biden to act, with images of the balloon sparking a national uproar and a rare moment of bipartisan compact in Washington DC.

As this newspaper reported on Monday, this means that US scrutiny of China’s actions around the world (and within its own borders) will only increase, given that the mood in the US Congress is even more hostile to Beijing than in the White House. Possibilities of a detente between the US and China now appear to be receding. This will create both opportunities and problems for other countries, including India, as this new great power race is set to shape this decade.