President Joe Biden has been hammered on Chinese state media for his administration’s handling of the initial spy balloon that floated its way over the U.S. mainland.
An op-ed that first appeared on CCP-owned media site China Daily said that rather than “showcas[ing] the United States’ strategic strength amid fierce attacks by Republicans and the low approval ratings of U.S. official,” the administration’s response showed “the world how immature and irresponsible — indeed hysterical — the U.S. has been in dealing with the case.”
The op-ed said, “The U.S. should have dealt with the balloon case in a calm and responsible way without letting it being hijacked by the bitter domestic partisan politics because a conflict between the two countries would spell disaster for the entire world.”
The author went on to mock allegations made by “U.S. officials, media outlets and political pundits” that it was a “spy balloon despite not having any evidence to back up their claim and regardless of China explaining that it was a balloon for research, mainly meteorological research, which went out of control and deviated far from its planned course due to strong winds.”
“For at least a week, the whole U.S. has been obsessed with the Chinese civilian balloon, as U.S. politicians and media projected it as a grave threat to U.S. national security. But they should realize that it does not make sense for China to spy on the U.S. using a balloon the size of three school buses while modern surveillance satellites can do a much better job, and surreptitiously too.”
Exclusive footage of US Air Force taking down the Spy Balloon of China.Please note that before destroying it they have to make themselves sure that it doesn’t contain hazardous bombs or biological weapons. The balloon is shot by a elliptical trajectory missile to prevent rebound. pic.twitter.com/ntXf9UxEVW
— The Boss© 😎 🇺🇸 🇮🇳 (@thebossoriginal) February 8, 2023
The missive was published on Friday morning, before a second object was shot down over Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay later that day.
It comes amid increasing pressure to secure American skies from foreign threats just days after a Chinese spy balloon was shot down.https://t.co/Ko22j8Bsvx
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) February 11, 2023
Should Biden respond aggressively to any further balloons in US airspace?
Yes: 100% (7 Votes)
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After the second object was targeted, another prominent Chinese site, Global Times, published an op-ed titled, “Another week, another juvenile farce in the U.S.’ skies.” This article featured a cartoon of a soldier standing before an F-22 telling reporters, “I proudly present to you F-22, the balloon killer.”
It began: “Less than a week after a U.S. fighter jet fired a missile and brought down a Chinese balloon, an utterly harmless civilian airship designed for meteorological use, the U.S. shot down an unidentified object around Alaska on Friday at the order of President Joe Biden. Stuck in typical partisanship and ‘political correctness,’ orders from the White House are getting laughably juvenile.”
The op-ed claimed that after being widely criticized for dithering over the first balloon, Biden was quick to shoot down the second object.
Reverting to ridicule, it said, “The U.S. did make a strong case that the F-22 is invincible, when its enemy are balloons. Unfortunately, this is the way the U.S. propagandizes — bragging about shooting down balloons.”
The author asked, “Is U.S. strong or weak? It looks pretty damn tough in the face of balloons, civilian airships, and other innocuous objects. But in the face of real battlefield, U.S.’ choice is to exhaust others.”
The op-eds are, of course, absurd. This is Chinese propaganda at its finest and is designed to exploit the deep divisions that exist in the U.S. today.
Clearly, the airships were not intended to gather data on U.S. weather. And this opinion is shared by the majority of Americans on both sides of the aisle.
China’s decision to send multiple balloons over North American airspace may just be the one issue that unites Americans.
Fox News reported that last week, House members voted unanimously to condemn China for sending the balloons. When is the last time lawmakers agreed on anything?
According to Fox, California Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman said, “China says it reserves the right to retaliate against America for the temerity of shooting down their spy balloon over our territory. This arrogance should not surprise us. It is the fruit of decades of China successfully pushing us around and getting away with murder.”
He noted, “This balloon has woken up the American people, and it should wake us up to the far greater things that China has done.”
China’s provocative actions, including what was likely a third Chinese “object” shot down over Canada’s Yukon Territory on Saturday, may have just accomplished what would have otherwise been impossible.
