On Feb 5., the United States shot down the Chinese surveillance balloon whose presence over U.S. airspace generated diplomatic tension between Washington and Beijing. CERL Advisory Council member Mary Ellen O’Connell told WSBT 22 the United States was within its right to shoot down the balloon despite claims from China that it had violated international practice. According to Prof. McConnell:

“China’s been denying and saying this was a weather balloon and it turns out that yes, the US government has been right, it was a surveillance balloon with very sensitive data, I think the US government is particularly interested in what China thought it could get using the balloon that it could not get with satellites or with aircraft flying close to the US borders.”

Mary Ellen O’Connell is the Robert and Marion Short Professor of Law and Research Professor of International Dispute Resolution—Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame. Her work is in the areas of international law on the use of force, international dispute resolution, and international legal theory. Read her full bio here.