The US-China rivalry hit a new high when the Pentagon reported that the USAF fighter jets had shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon. Washington shared the balloon’s path which showed it flew over Canada, Alaska, Idaho, and one of the three strategic bases that carries US’s intercontinental ballistic missiles. On the other hand, Beijing dismissed the allegations stating that the balloon was a ‘civilian airship’ for weather research that accidentally diverted from its path and entered the US Airspace. While rejecting China’s response, the Pentagon further added that Chinese spy balloons may have entered US Airspace undetected four times in the last six years. Reportedly, Washington has shared the details of China’s violation of US airspace with the diplomatic missions of over forty countries, and plans to raise its concerns at various intergovernmental platforms. According to experts, this development may lead to a fresh round of sanctions against China.

The international community is already passing through crucial times with post pandemic resettlement, and secondly the Russia-Ukraine War that has caused unprecedented hikes in the prices of petroleum products. Not to forget the devastating earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria that has claimed thousands of lives so far. Any friction between the two giant nations, US and China during such tiring times may add to the already uncontrollable chaos around the globe. Chinese have been accused for violating the American airspace for the first time ever since the beginning of the US-China rivalry. On the other hand, the US had been violating Chinese airspace by sending their military reconnaissance aircrafts over the South China Sea, which Washington recognizes as international waters.

According to the US State Department, the spy balloon that was shot down off the coast of South Carolina was part of the Chinese international surveillance program. The reason multiple embassies were contacted in this regard was that the said surveillance program had been violating the airspaces of many countries across five continents. Experts have questioned US’ military capabilities as the so-called Chinese balloons have been crossing into the US airspace since the last six years without being detected. The Commander of US Northern Command, Gen. Glen VanHerck, acknowledged that the US had a “domain awareness gap” that had allowed past balloons to cross into US airspace undetected. This will add new dimensions to the military capabilities of the US and its partners around the globe. This is not the first time that the two world powers are face to face due to the intrusion of a spy mission. During the cold war period in the 1960s, the intrusion of a US owned U-2 spy plane inside the Soviet airspace brought the two blocs at the verge of war.

While the answers to many questions raised in Washington and Europe may not be known as of now, one thing is clear: the incursion of the Chinese balloon tested the boundaries of international law. Every country has absolute sovereignty over its waters extending 12 nautical miles (about 22 kilometers) from its land territory. There is “complete and exclusive sovereignty over the airspace above its territory” under centuries old internationally accepted conventions. All states control all access to their airspaces, which includes both kinds of aircrafts, commercial and government. but the upper limit of sovereign airspace is so far contested in the international law discourse. Widely accepted legal principle in this regard is that it extends to the maximum altitude of around 40,000 to 45,000 feet, the highest altitude at which majority commercial and military aircrafts operate with the exception of a few such as the banned supersonic Concorde jet that could fly up to the altitude of 65,000 feet above sea level. The Chinese balloon was also reported to be hovering at an altitude of 60,000 feet. The law of nations does not include the airspace to the altitudes at which satellites operate.

In order to see what becomes of this event, we will have to wait until the US comes to a certain conclusion and makes a decisive statement. Such incidents and the ones that repeatedly occur at the South China Sea where the Navies of the two world powers repeatedly come face to face, only increase the chances of escalation of another unwanted conflict. Both China and the US have been extending their military assertiveness in recent years. The unfortunate part in all this is that there exists no international platform that could hold powerful countries to account for endangering world peace. Both escalation and de-escalation of a conflict remains at the mercy of the people who hold realms of power in Washington and Beijing. Cold Wars are never meant to end, infact, it is the international players that keep changing.