Chinese balloon to have “far-reaching consequences” on US-China ties: Report

Beijing’s balloon spotted in American airspace will have “far-reaching consequences” on the bilateral ties between the United States and China, The Hong Kong Post reported.

After the balloon incident, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to China has been delayed. As per the news report, if China does not work towards improving the ties with US, the episode “may even endanger” the meeting between US President Joe Biden and his counterpart Xi Jinping that is being planned in Indonesia this November.

China has more to lose due to the balloon as it has been making efforts in the new year to put a “friendlier face before the world and wanting to expand its role in the international community,” the report said. In the latest meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, China said that it will continue its process of liberalization and opening up further, as per the news report.

As the balloon was found over American airspace, there would be no takers for any angry response from China. It all depends on how serious China is to mend its relations with the US and whether the balloon gives the Americans new leverage to push a harder bargain when leaders of both nations hold a meeting next.

Writing about the incident, The Washington Post wrote, “…in arguably one of the most dramatic incidents in years involving the United States and China, it was an unmanned balloon, bobbing along on a meandering stratospheric path across the US mainland, that set the proverbial cat among the pigeons,” The HongKong Post reported.

As per the news report, China has been sending intelligence-collection balloons for years. On Saturday, the Pentagon official said that five Chinese balloons have circumnavigated the globe and Beijing has carried out 20 to 30 balloon missions around the world over the past decade.

Experts in national security and aerospace claimed the balloon seemed to share characteristics with high-altitude balloons used by developed nations for weather forecasting, telecommunications and scientific research.

Beijing’s balloon found over American airspace will have “far-reaching consequences” on the bilateral ties between the United States and China. The first victim was the planned trip of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to China.

After the balloon incident, Blinken’s visit to China has been delayed. As per the news report, if China does not work towards improving the ties, the episode “may even endanger” the meeting between US President Joe Biden and his counterpart Xi Jinping that is being planned in Indonesia this November.

China has more to lose due to the balloon as it has been making efforts in the new year to put a “friendlier face before the world and wanting to expand its role in the international community.” In the latest meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, China said that it will continue its process of liberalization and opening up further.

As the balloon was found over American airspace, there would be no takers for any angry response from China. It all depends on how serious China is to mend its relations with the US and whether the balloon gives the Americans a new leverage to push a harder bargain when leaders of both nations hold a meeting next.

Writing about the incident, The Washington Post wrote, “…in arguably one of the most dramatic incidents in years involving the United States and China, it was an unmanned balloon, bobbing along on a meandering stratospheric path across the US mainland, that set the proverbial cat among the pigeons,” The HongKong Post reported.

As per the news report, China has been sending intelligence-collection balloons for years. On Saturday, the Pentagon official said that five Chinese balloons have circumnavigated the globe and Beijing has carried out 20 to 30 balloon missions around the world over the past decade.

Experts in national security and aerospace claimed the balloon seemed to share characteristics with high-altitude balloons used by developed nations for weather forecasting, telecommunications and scientific research, according to the news report. It is not clear what was used by the balloon to manoeuvre through the stratosphere.

On February 4, the US shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon which was spotted in its skies. Meanwhile, China has described the balloon as a communications assistant and stressed that Beijing will give a befitting response to the Americans.

The US on Monday said that it is under no illusions about the challenges and threats that it faces from China in many ways. During the press briefing on Monday, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said that the reason behind the US engaging in dialogue and diplomacy is to manage the competition and to also set guardrails on a relationship that is complex and consequential.

“We’re under no illusions about the challenges about the threats we face from the PRC. The reason we have sought to engage in dialogue, in diplomacy, is in the first instance to manage that competition, to see to it that that competition doesn’t veer into conflict, but also to set guardrails on a relationship that is complex, that is consequential, precisely because we have a number of concerns about PRC behavior, espionage being one of them,” Ned Price said. (ANI)