The Chinese surveillance balloon incident has brought to light the growing tensions between the United States and China in recent months. After soaring for days over an area that included nuclear silos in Montana and eventually landing in shallow waters near South Carolina, the balloon has become a subject of great intrigue for both military and intelligence officials. As a result, security agencies are now attempting to reverse-engineer whatever remains of the balloon in an attempt to discover its implications.

The incident underscores the lack of communication between Washington and Beijing, with both choosing to overlook the common threats such surveillance balloons could cause. Evan Medeiros, a professor who advised President Barack Obama on China and Asia-related issues, stated that while the precise intelligence yield of the balloon remains unknown, the violation of sovereignty is certainly apparent. In fact, the US-China relationship has always been a rocky one, with China objecting vehemently every time the US has flown its