Reactions on Chinese social media mocked US coverage of the surveillance balloon entering US airspace on Wednesday, even downplaying the implications of a canceled visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Beijing.
“It’s just a hot air balloon, does America really have to make a fuss about nothing?” read just one of the many comments on China’s Weibo chat platform, where users made fun of the US for their replies.
The Pentagon announced Thursday that the US government had detected a high-altitude surveillance balloon, first spotted over Montana, where it hovered over Malmstrom Air Force Base. The United States uses the base to store nuclear weapons.
Senior State and Defense Department officials labeled the balloon’s presence in US airspace an “unacceptable” violation of US sovereignty, but warned against shooting down, as the balloon had roughly the size of three Greyhound buses and carried heavy surveillance equipment. The military shot down the balloon on Saturday afternoon as it reached the Atlantic Ocean.
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Republicans have criticized the Biden administration for its slow response, with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy tweeting Saturday, “The first Biden refused to defend our borders. Now he won’t defend our skies.”
In this photo provided by Brian Branch, a large balloon moves over the Kingston, North Carolina area with an airplane and its contrail visible below it.
(Brian Branch via AP)
Blinken announced on Friday that he would be postponing his planned trip to China, though the trip was never formally announced.
Weibo users, as well as readers of Chinese newspaper The People’s Daily, downplayed the impact of Blinken’s change in travel plans, saying: ‘Whether you come or not, the result will be the same. Why do we keep paying like this close attention to the unreasonable nation”, in reference to the United States
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“It’s a good thing you’re not coming,” another user wrote. “So unreasonable.”
Many comments took on a jocular tone, with some describing what the balloon would like – ‘The world is so big and I want to see it all’ – to urge the US to ‘respect the free-floating balloon’.
A popular Weibo top search query interface is displayed on a mobile phone, Ganzi City, Sichuan Province, China, 31 December 2021.
(Wang Jianfeng / Costfoto / Future publication via Getty Images)
China acknowledged that the device originated there, but continued to claim that the balloon was a civilian aircraft that entered US airspace by mistake.
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“Regarding the unintentional entry of a Chinese unmanned airship into US airspace due to force majeure, the Chinese side has verified it and communicated it to the US side. It is a civilian airship used for research purposes , mainly meteorological,” said a foreign minister. Ministry spokesman on Saturday. “Stricked by the Westerlies and with limited self-steering capabilities, the airship deviated greatly from its intended course.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a news conference at the Waldorf Astoria in Jerusalem on January 31, 2023.
(RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)
On People Daily’s hot page, Blinken’s announcement, which was published under the headline “Chinese Unmanned Airship Accidentally Entered US Airspace Due to Uncontrollable Forces,” according to The China Project, ranked only in ninth place by priority.
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“Blinken, China didn’t invite you, don’t think too much of yourself,” another user wrote in the article’s comment section.
Another user wrote: “Come or don’t come, we don’t care”.
