Christian Leuprecht, a political science professor at the Royal Military College of Canada, believes that the Chinese spy balloon that was found trespassing North American airspace last month was meant to test the response capability of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).

“Beijing’s espionage and interference are now the single greatest threat to Canada’s democratic way of life. The PRC is intense, in control of Canadian critical minerals, and is actively running influence campaigns over resource development. Balloons and election interference are merely the latest episode in a long list of hostile hybrid warfare efforts perpetrated by the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] against Canada,” Leuprecht told the House Canada–China committee on March 20.

Leuprecht also added that the Chinese balloon and other flying objects detected subsequently were “effectively a test of the NORAD’s response system to objects in our airspace.” When Liberal MP Robert Oliphant questioned him about the proof, Leuprecht pointed to previous testimonies heard by the House national defence committee.

NORAD Lieutenant-General Alain Pelletier told MPs on the national defence committee on Feb. 17 that he believed the balloon could be China’s attempt to test the capability of the binational aerospace defence alliance, saying: “This could be one of the options, especially as it relates to the high-altitude surveillance balloon.”

Leuprecht also made references to his commentary, published in the Globe and Mail, in which he noted that if China is really challenging NORAD, it indicates that the regime is seeking to bring geopolitical competition to the Western Hemisphere, and showing that it could do so without resorting to “overt military means.”

“China may be signalling that two can play at the game of moving into each other’s neighbourhoods,” he wrote. “Yet Beijing may be going a step further: As more balloons are detected and intercepted, it may be demonstrating its ability to violate North American sovereignty, and to do so repeatedly, with relative impunity.”

The Chinese balloon was believed to be launched from China’s southernmost province of Hainan and was first identified on Jan. 28, over the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, and entered Canadian airspace over the Yukon and the Northwest Territories on Jan. 30. It reentered U.S. territory the next day and subsequently travelled across the country until it was shot down over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4.