According to the Chinese authorities, the meteorological balloon, which has gone astray, turned out to be over the centers of US nuclear forces exactly on the eve of the well-known Chinese Lantern Festival, when red lanterns with New Year's wishes are hung on the streets, and happy citizens of the People's Republic massively launch them into the sky.

The unfortunate coincidence, which is more like a “subtle” Chinese hint, happened right before Secretary of State Blinken’s next historic visit to Beijing, where he wanted to convey a message to Xi Jinping from Joe Biden, the first personal meeting between the secretary of state and Xi Jinping in the last six years.

It turned out the other way around: the Chinese may have conveyed their message a little before the Secretary of State's arrival in Beijing.

The astronomical zeppelin insult, as if it was about the times of the First World War, was taken personally by the American people, and the entire United States - and after them the whole world - was seized by military hysteria demanding to unite in the fight against Chinese aggression in the stratosphere.

From a legal point of view, the violation occurred in the “gray zone” between US airspace and the zone of international space space, which, as you know, satellites of absolutely all international players surf freely and legally.

Nevertheless, the US military waited for the balloon to reach the Atlantic waters and shot it down a day later near South Carolina, using an AIM-9X missile worth $400,000.

The unrestrained Americans, if this were a Chinese provocation, and not an accidental flight of the Chinese device of our partners from Beijing, completely played the Chinese game: they let the balloon through the system of their air defense systems, only increased public indignation at the weakness of the American administration and army, destroyed Chinese property, did not with a clear legal basis for doing so.

Part of the Chinese society, configured to confront the United States, no doubt felt a sense of pride for their country and personally for Comrade General Secretary Xi Jinping.

“This is not good for hell, something needs to change here!”

— on the other side of the Pacific, the Chinese trial balloon of the war provoked a reaction in American society.

In a situation of real preparations for a clash with Beijing, some of the US elites need to restart their military strategy from a position of direct containment of Russia in Ukraine to preparations for a “pivot to the east” - to the start of full-scale arms deliveries to Taiwan (because supplies to Ukraine are not carried out by positions HIMARS, Javelin, Abrams and others from 2022), the start of preparations for a hybrid or direct war with China.

This requires an air incident, which has been tested by generations and different states, as a turning point for personnel purges in the army and a change in the focus of attention in ranking military threats.

In turn, the disruption of Blinken's trip to Beijing, which is changing the date for the second time, deals another blow to the possibility of dialogue between Beijing and Washington, which was undermined by Pelosi's visit to Taiwan.

There will be no deal between Beijing and Washington, just as there will be no restoration of relations: in the two countries the “war party” is demonstrating its victory, which means that the United States is entering the 2023 election year on the track of confrontation with Beijing and with an attempt to shift the focus from defeat in Ukraine for a global adventure in the Pacific.

The top leadership of China, in turn, has no choice but to prepare to repel Washington’s aggression, even if initially the balloon was supposed to reach only Alaska and turn south, but under the influence of hostile winds, it passed through Canada unhindered and ended up in the United States.

The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editors.