A blow to reputation: how the incident with a balloon can affect relations between the United States and China

Wang Yi, head of the office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, called unacceptable the hype raised by the United States due to the accidental penetration of a Chinese balloon into American airspace.

He pointed this out in a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

“We do not accept speculation and hype, for the occurrence of which there are no objective facts.

In unforeseen situations, China and the United States must remain calm, maintain contacts promptly, avoiding erroneous judgments, ”TASS quoted him as saying.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the conversation took place at the initiative of Washington and that the parties discussed how to "resolve the situation in a professional manner."

The day before, the head of the State Department announced the postponement of his visit to the Asian power for an indefinite period due to the situation with the Chinese balloon, which he called reconnaissance.

“During today’s conversation with Wang Yi, I made it clear that the presence of this reconnaissance balloon in US airspace is a clear violation of US sovereignty and international law, that this is an irresponsible step and that the decision (PRC. -

) to go for it on the eve of my planned visit hurts the substantive discussions we were willing to have,” Blinken told reporters.

The American diplomat believes that this situation has undermined the purpose of his planned visit to China, namely "efforts to build a foundation for relations" between Washington and Beijing.

He added that he would visit China "when circumstances permit."

At the same time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Asian Republic claims that the Chinese side did not announce Blinken's official visit, and its cancellation under the pretext of an incident with a balloon is an initiative of the United States.

“In fact, China and the US have not announced any visit.

The fact that the American side published the relevant information is the business of the United States itself, ”the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

"Doesn't pose a threat"

According to widespread information, a high-altitude balloon flew from the Aleutian Islands through Canada and on February 1 was spotted over the city of Billings in Montana.

At the same time, important military installations are located in Montana and the surrounding regions, including airfields with strategic bombers, as well as Malmström Air Force Base with Minuteman III ballistic missiles.

• The White house

• Gettyimages.ru

• © Stefanie Reynolds / Bloomberg

On Thursday, February 2, the Pentagon confirmed reports of a balloon over America: the corresponding statement was made by the official representative of the department, General Patrick Ryder.

“Currently, the balloon is at an altitude well above that of commercial air travel and does not pose a military or physical threat to people on the ground.

Over the past few years, other cases of similar balloon activity have been observed.

As soon as the balloon was discovered, the US government immediately took measures to protect against the collection of classified information, ”the press release on the website of the Department of Defense says.

Despite the fact that Ryder's release did not indicate the ownership of the air object, the American media, citing him, reported that the balloon was Chinese.

Subsequently, Beijing admitted that the object had indeed flown in from China.

At the same time, the country's Foreign Ministry said that it was intended for research meteorological work, and its appearance in US airspace was a consequence of force majeure.

At the same time, CNN, citing Pentagon sources, said that "high-ranking military officials advised President Joe Biden not to shoot down the balloon due to concerns that its debris could pose a threat to people on the ground."

“We are confident that this high-altitude reconnaissance balloon belongs to the PRC.

Cases of such activity have been observed in the past few years, including before the arrival of the current administration, ”said the source of the channel.

Later, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that US President Joe Biden agreed with the military, who recommended not shooting down the balloon.

However, already on Saturday, February 4, it was decided to destroy the balloon when it was in the sky over the Atlantic Ocean.

The authorities closed a certain section of the airspace in advance, where the object was shot down.

At the same time, the process was broadcast live by many Western media.

"No normalization"

As Vasily Kashin, director of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, an expert on the Chinese military-industrial complex, Vasily Kashin, said in a commentary to RT, the incident with the balloon damaged the US reputation due to the unhindered penetration of this object into American airspace.

“This was a pretty serious blow to the American administration.

Washington was unable to secure its air borders.

The White House was forced to somehow react because of the strong attention to this by the American public, although there was little point in canceling Blinken's visit.

Apparently, it was not possible to safely shoot down this balloon, but due to the reputation of a power with high standards of the defense industry and the military complex, the United States had to respond at least diplomatically, ”Kashin said.

• Xi Jinping and Joe Biden

• AP

• © Alex Brandon

All negotiations between the US and China are now aimed at avoiding a sudden escalation, Kashin said.

“And Blinken’s visit should also be dedicated to this, since quite tough mutual political steps were taken on the eve of it: both new sanctions from the United States and China considered the possibility of limiting the export of equipment for solar energy.

Everything was quite serious, and there was no talk of any agreements in the field of normalizing relations, ”the political scientist explained.

A similar point of view in a RT commentary was expressed by Sergey Lukonin, head of the China Economics and Politics Sector of the Center for Asia-Pacific Studies at IMEMO RAS.

“The Americans could not ignore the balloon incident, but so far, apart from canceling Blinken's visit, they have not been able to come up with any adequate response.

It is likely that the Biden administration is now discussing additional retaliatory steps to this event, ”the analyst noted.

He also drew attention to the fact that the incident occurred against the backdrop of serious contradictions in Sino-American relations.

“Despite the fact that the US and China are very closely interconnected in terms of economy, investment and technology, America understands that it needs to slow down the development of its Asian competitor at any cost.

China, in turn, seeks to avoid a serious confrontation with the United States.

Therefore, both countries are trying to find areas in which they can cooperate, but all this will take place against the backdrop of strategic competition, ”said Lukonin.

At the same time, Beijing is trying to maintain the appearance of a stable dialogue, the expert believes.

“Beijing is trying to pretend that it does not understand that they want to deceive it, and Washington is strenuously pretending that it is not trying to deceive China.

Whatever negotiations and visits are planned, their relationship is determined by strategic competition, in which the United States wants to slow down the development of the PRC at any cost, ”concluded Lukonin.