NYT WORLD: China’s Top Airship Scientist Promoted Program to Watch the World From Above
By Chris Buckley
Section: World
Source: New York Times
Published Date: February 13, 2023 at 02:00AM
The scientist, Wu Zhe, told a state-run news outlet at the time that the “Cloud Chaser” airship was a milestone in his vision of populating the upper reaches of the earth’s atmosphere with steerable balloons that could be used to provide early warnings of natural disasters, monitor pollution or carry out airborne surveillance.
“Look, there’s America,” Professor Wu said in an accompanying video, pointing on a computer screen to a red line that appeared to trace the airship’s path across Asia, northern Africa, and near the southern edge of the United States. By the time of the report, it was over the Pacific Ocean.
Professor Wu’s announcement is part of a body of evidence revealing in new detail the scope of the Chinese government’s ambitions to use high-altitude airships to track earthbound activities, with an eye on both domestic and military needs. Chinese media reports, academic studies and officials’ speeches suggest that Professor Wu has been central to China’s balloon development efforts.
The program leaped to global attention, and concern, when the United States shot down a Chinese balloon off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4 after it had traveled across the country. Since then, U.S. fighter jets have also shot down three unidentified flying objects over North America.
A senior academic at Beihang University, a Beijing-based institution at the forefront of China’s aviation and space research, Professor Wu has also worked in airship development for nearly two decades. Now several of his companies have been caught up in the Biden administration’s efforts to counter those plans. Professor Wu has been a founder or major stakeholder in at least three of the six Chinese entities that Washington punished last week for their involvement in what the Biden administration calls Beijing’s surveillance balloon program.
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By Chris Buckley
Section: World
Source: New York Times
Published Date: February 13, 2023 at 02:00AM
Corporate records and media reports reveal an airship scientist at the center of China’s high-altitude balloon program. Companies he has founded were among those targeted by Washington.
In 2019, years before a hulking high-altitude Chinese balloon floated across the United States and caused widespread alarm, one of China’s top aeronautics scientists made a proud announcement that received little attention back then: His team had launched an airship more than 60,000 feet into the air and sent it sailing around most of the globe, including across North America.The scientist, Wu Zhe, told a state-run news outlet at the time that the “Cloud Chaser” airship was a milestone in his vision of populating the upper reaches of the earth’s atmosphere with steerable balloons that could be used to provide early warnings of natural disasters, monitor pollution or carry out airborne surveillance.
“Look, there’s America,” Professor Wu said in an accompanying video, pointing on a computer screen to a red line that appeared to trace the airship’s path across Asia, northern Africa, and near the southern edge of the United States. By the time of the report, it was over the Pacific Ocean.
Professor Wu’s announcement is part of a body of evidence revealing in new detail the scope of the Chinese government’s ambitions to use high-altitude airships to track earthbound activities, with an eye on both domestic and military needs. Chinese media reports, academic studies and officials’ speeches suggest that Professor Wu has been central to China’s balloon development efforts.
The program leaped to global attention, and concern, when the United States shot down a Chinese balloon off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4 after it had traveled across the country. Since then, U.S. fighter jets have also shot down three unidentified flying objects over North America.
A senior academic at Beihang University, a Beijing-based institution at the forefront of China’s aviation and space research, Professor Wu has also worked in airship development for nearly two decades. Now several of his companies have been caught up in the Biden administration’s efforts to counter those plans. Professor Wu has been a founder or major stakeholder in at least three of the six Chinese entities that Washington punished last week for their involvement in what the Biden administration calls Beijing’s surveillance balloon program.
Read More at: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/13/world/asia/china-spy-balloon.html
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