Wednesday’s threat by the Chinese Foreign Ministry was that it would impose “countermeasures against the United States” for shooting down the Chinese spy ball that flew across the continent in February.
When Wang Wenbin, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, was asked to provide evidence for China’s claims regarding the balloon, Wang Wenbin became a little flustered. He said that the balloon carried only meteorological equipment, but was instead unexpectedly blown into U.S. Airspace in an “unintended and unexpected” event.
Wang became uncomfortable when reporters asked him for evidence to support China’s repeated claims of spy balloons constantly flying over Chinese territory. These claims have been updated to state that spy balloons are being parked above the Chinese-oppressed areas of Tibet and East Turkistan. This is the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, according to the Chinese government.
“China handled the illegal U.S. balloon flight through our airspace with calm and professionalism. Wang said that the U.S. had overreacted to an unintended Chinese civilian airship entering its airspace due to force majeure.
“The U.S. must give explanations to China and to the international community, reflect upon its behavior, cease smearing, attacking, and misleading the U.S. public as well as the international community. He said that China reserves the right of responding further if necessary.
Wang was not able to do better when reporters asked Wang for more evidence about China’s claims of “American spy balloons above Tibet”. Wang simply repeated the allegations and demanded an explanation from the United States.
Wang said something about an American private company’s aquatic drone being found off Namibia’s coast. This story has been seized upon by the Chinese Communist propaganda machine as evidence of American drone spying. The University of Gothenburg, Sweden, had already confirmed that it was their marine research aircraft.
The Chinese state media, which has produced tons of hyperventilating columns this past week accusing the U.S.of being obsessed with the spy ball, stated that Wang’s threats of countermeasures would be economic sanctions that China detests as tools of Western imperialism.
It’s difficult to change many of the U.S.’s unreasonable behavior with language or reason. We must take self-defense measures to ensure that the U.S. government views things on equal terms when it comes U.S.-China relations,” Professor Li Haidong from China Foreign Affairs University said to the state-run Global Times Wednesday.
The Global Times praised China’s behavior as “calm” & “reasonable” several times. They suggested that a hotline be established with Canada and the U.S. to avoid any future balloon misunderstandings.
“If the U.S. truly hopes to communicate with us and cooperate with them, we’ll certainly welcome it,” Dia Daming said. However, if the U.S. wants to leverage certain topics and stick with a Cold War mentality it will, it will be a delusion, and we’ll confront them without fear,” Dia Daming, Renmin University associate professor, said. She also scored brownie points by incorporating Beijing’s favourite talking point on “Cold War mentality”, into the discussion.
A Global Times article published Wednesday mocked Biden’s administration for possible shooting down American or Canadian balloons this weekend as part of its paranoid fervor at intercepting Chinese surveillance craft.
The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that American military and civilian agencies had flown balloons above the US for a growing number of national-security purposes, scientific research and intelligence collection, and commercial uses according to industry experts and documents. Shen Yi, a Fudan University professor, said that the US could have downed three of its own balloons. The F-22s and F-16s as well as the expensive missiles used in these missions may have shelled random American assets.
It would be funny to go back and reread the US media news stories from the past days. They featured images of American politicians and pundits setting their hair ablaze, calling for more military budgets and Cold War escalations for a small balloon.
The Global Times claimed that America’s balloon hypertrophy proves China is the winner in the global power race.
The US must ask itself if it wants to maintain good relations with China. Washington is facing more pressing problems in the near term regarding its national interests. These include national debt and macroeconomic policies. The US has more to do with China than China. If the US continues to squeeze every inch of flexibility in its ties with China, it would be like setting traps for itself.
Chinese propagandists suggested that President Joe Biden might begin to ask for forgiveness from China by lifting sanctions imposed against six Chinese companies last Friday in relation to the downed spy ball.
