Домой United States USA — Science Why the Chinese Spy Balloon is a Huge Embarrassment for Beijing

Why the Chinese Spy Balloon is a Huge Embarrassment for Beijing

60
0
ПОДЕЛИТЬСЯ

China’s response to the discovery of its high-altitude surveillance balloon may be as damaging as its decision to launch it.
The unfolding spy balloon saga appears to have dizzied China’s diplomats, who have struggled for credibility in the past days by going on the offensive.
Observers continue to be confounded by the decision-making process in Beijing, as well as by the Chinese government’s choice to portray itself as the wronged party, having begun with a conciliatory tone that might have salvaged its reputation amid the fresh diplomatic fallout.
Just weeks after welcoming Antony Blinken’s widely expected visit to Beijing, China responded to the U.S. secretary of state’s decision to postpone the trip by claiming it had not been confirmed in the first place.
After images of the surveillance balloon’s shoot-down were plastered over newspaper front pages across the world, China sent a formal warning to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. Xie Feng, the vice foreign minister many are tipping to become China’s next envoy to Washington, told the U.S. «not to take any further actions that may undermine China’s interests or escalate or expand tensions.»
Speculation remains as to Beijing’s motives for launching the 200-foot tall craft so close to Blinken’s visit to China, which would’ve been the first by America’s top diplomat in five years. President Joe Biden, asked a similar question at the White House on Monday, quipped: «They’re the Chinese government.»
Some believe the balloon could have deviated off course unintentionally, its surveillance mission conceivably unknown to China’s top leaders, who were busy organizing a public detente with U.S. counterparts. Others say the Chinese government’s only mistake was being caught.
Following further U.S. disclosures, Chines officials have since acknowledged at least one other allegedly errant balloon over Latin America and the Caribbean.
What’s more certain, however, is that by first trying to privately salvage Blinken’s plans before the balloon’s presence over the continental United States was made public, Beijing then appeared to underestimate the incident’s impact on Washington, its inevitable return to bellicosity finally bursting its attempt at charming the West after years of self-isolation during the pandemic.

Continue reading...