A reader writes: The world record aim of Piccard refused by ChinaDear personsThank you, dear reader for your letter. Here at the MS TKG Chinese Politics Site we can sympathize and understand your frustration. It seems so petty that these balloonists who are adventurers and sportists are denied in their attempt to set a world record time for traversing the globe in a hot air balloon. Especially given that the governments of Syria, Iraq (yes Saddam Hussein's Iraq--that Iraq!!) and Iran all gave these sportists persmission to float over their land. The decision of the Communist Party ruled government of mainland China does seem arrogant and uncaring.I�m extremly [sic] angry about the decision not giving the allowance to Piccard to fly over China. How can a people/politcians be so arrogant? We are all on one planet and we have to cope and work together also in the future for a better world. It looks like China is not able to realise this and gives me the prove that China is not moderne state.
But, perhaps we are wrong in feeling anger or bitterness over this denial and see it for what the communist government tells us. It was done for humanitarian reasons!
Yes, humanitarian reasons. A February third Washington Post quoted Florence Tinguely Mattli of the Swiss Embassy as saying "They cannot guarantee the security of the balloon and the security of civilian air traffic'' and a February fourth A.P. report paraphrased the mainland officials thusly: "Chinese officials have said the balloon poses a security risk to other aircraft in its airspace.". They contend that there is much air traffic in that region and the presence of a hot air ballon could pose a dangerous situation for planes, the balloonists and people on the ground who could be crushed to death by falling airliners knocked out of the sky by a balloon jumbo jet collision.
Also there were valid national security concerns.
One must look closely for the concerns that the government of mainland China might have. In scouring the talk.politics.china newsgroup, the rationale of the government was put forth by one of the government's more competent citizen spokesmen.
It appears that the balloon would fly over Tibet. If you were responsible for defending the well-being of the people living in those areas, wouldn't you take a very hard look at those adventurers before letting them in? A Younghusband and a Harrer were more than enough for Tibet :-))).This quote is from a February second dispatch to the talk.politics.china group. One might see this as simple paranoia but the following news report from the Associated Fake News Service proves otherwise:(A.F.N.S. Dateline Peip'ing 2-4-98) Balloonists Scheme ThwartedChinese Beijing officials here today have uncovered a dastardly scheme hatched by the balloonists ostensibly trying to set a time record for round the world balloon aviation.
Intelligence uncovered the plan of the balloonists to litter Tibet with Beastie Boy CD's and with Tibetan Freedom Concert Recordings. Also to be thrown overboard were Richard Gere video tapes. Included in the plan, because few in Tibet have VCRs and CD Players, were to have been thousands of CD players and VCRs thrown over the side of the ballon.
"This is unacceptable", thundered an unnamed high official. "These appliances could hit our soldiers stationed in Tibet on the head doing great damage to the players before we were able to collect them for our own personal use. Also such distribution methods also seek to avoid the legal tarifs we apply to all imported goods, which is unacceptable."
President Jiang Zemin himself felt the situation dire enough to cut short his daily briefing with his chief intern, Mon Lu Ski, to meet with his national security advisor.
The officials though have not ruled out any traversing of mainland Chinese airspace though. "We respect and congratulate these fine adventurers in their round the world quest", read a statement issued by the President's office. "Such undertakings are a part of the human spirit and uplift all humanity with such endeavors. We welcome them to pass over mainland China under the proper legal circumstances."
The balloonists were advised to drop the VCR's and CD players over a specific drop zone near Beijing where the proper authorities would collect them, to scuttle the tapes and CD's over the ocean and to fax a request to traverse their air space to their embassy which could then direct the request to the mainland Chinese embassy where it would be passed on to the proper office in Beijing for consideration. The balloonists would receive an answer in less than three months.
"They can hover over N. Korea in the interim," said a spokesman.
A caveat. Some folk don't have much sense of humor so I'll say this. Of course the above is all in fun. The PRC military is not going to shoot down a balloon.
But the point and frustration of the letter writer is understandable. Especially in light of the fact that Iraq and Iran had no problem with this balloon passover. If the PRC government really cannot coordinate and cosolidate in such a way as to keep any planes from running into a ballon, then the reader may have a valid point that they aren't a modern country.
I tend to think that if their reason is true, that they aren't able to ensure the security of their airspace because there is one hot air ballon there, then the government isn't competent. China is modern enough to deal with this. Maybe this government can't, but the country sure could.
But I doubt this is a real reason but more an excuse. Why they would do this I don't know. But they do make themselves seem like the number one curmudgeons of the world.
