In Spy Balloon Faceoff Between The U.S. And Red China, Everyone Lost

The sky was the focus of Americans for several days last week as the Chinese spy balloon floated over most of the continent. The balloon was finally shot down by the Biden administration on Saturday. Both Washington and Beijing responded to the incident with serious policy mistakes. 

Most people want to know why the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sent a spy balloon to the U.S. a week before the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to Beijing. There are many possibilities. CCP may want to test the U.S. Air Defense System with relatively low-tech and affordable equipment. The Wall Street Journal reportedIt is likely that the Chinese spy balloon had no communication with China. “radar or other electronic emissions that would have given away [its] presence,” This made it initially difficult to find the balloon.

CCP likely wanted to gather vital intelligence. This included information about how long it would take for the U.S. to notice the balloon, initiate a response and what kind of response it would give. CCP expected that the U.S. military would eventually take down the spy ballon. But Xi and his comrades might not be too concerned about losing the balloon because it wasn’t an advanced surveillance tool, so it wouldn’t reveal much of China’s surveillance technology capability.

Another plausible explanation is that Beijing attempted to put the Biden administration in a psychologically uncomfortable place before Secretary Blinken’s trip. CCP believes that the United States is rapidly falling, especially under President Joe Biden. Yang Jiechi broke a diplomatic convention when the Biden administration met with communist China at Anchorage, Alaska, March 2021. Do not shave! He never spoke for more than fifteen minutes with his American counterpart in front of an international audience. The CCP enjoys intimidating its opponent in negotiations to gain psychological advantages.

Therefore, the CCP might have believed it could release a spy balloon into the U.S. to test the Biden administration’s resolve and gain some psychological upper hand before Blinken’s trip. Undoubtedly, the CCP sought to exploit any weaknesses in the Biden administration’s response and apply them to its talks with Blinken.

Regardless of the CCP’s motives, it neglected to factor in the American public’s reaction to its foreign policy calculation. Xi and his comrades do not have to worry about answering voters because there is no free election. The CCP can hide its errors and keep the public ignorant by not having a free press.

America is different. Americans do not want to feel unsafe in their homes. Regardless of political ideology, the majority of voters see that one of the government’s essential functions is protecting its citizens against hostile foreign forces. The sight of a Chinese spy balloon floating uninterruptedly in America’s sky for days unnerved many Americans last week. American politicians are not like the CCP.