Reactions on Chinese social media have 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 the United States really have to make a fuss over nothing?” read just one comment out of many on the Chinese chat platform Weibo, where users mocked the US for their answers.
The Pentagon announced Thursday that the US government had detected a high-altitude surveillance balloon, first seen 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 have called the balloon’s presence in US airspace an “unacceptable” violation of US sovereignty, but warned against shooting it down, as the balloon was about the size of three Greyhound buses and was carrying heavy surveillance equipment. The military shot down the balloon on Saturday afternoon as it reached the Atlantic Ocean.
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Republicans criticized the Biden administration for its slow response, with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy tweeting Saturday: “First Biden refused to defend our borders. Now he won’t defend our skies.”
In this photo provided by Brian Branch, a large balloon hovers over the Kingston, North Carolina area, with an airplane and its contrail below.
(Brian Branch via AP)
Blinken announced Friday that he would be postponing his scheduled trip to China, though the trip was never formally announced.
Weibo users, as well as readers of the party-backed Chinese newspaper The People’s Daily, downplayed the impact of Blinken’s change on travel plans, saying: “Whether you come or not, the result will be the same. Why do we continue to pay so much attention to the unreasonable nation”, referring to the US.
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“It’s good that you don’t come,” wrote another user. “So unreasonable.”
Many comments took on a joking tone, with some describing what the globe would want: “The world is so big and I want to see it all,” to urge the US to “respect the floating freedom of the globe.”
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 Publishing via Getty Images)
China has acknowledged that the device originated there, but has continued to maintain that the balloon was a civilian craft that entered US airspace by accident.
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“Regarding the unintentional entry of a Chinese unmanned aircraft into US airspace due to force majeure, the Chinese side has verified it and communicated it to the US side. It is a civil aircraft used for research purposes, mainly weather conditions,” said a foreign official. Ministry spokesman on Saturday. “Affected by westerly winds and with limited self-steering ability, the aircraft veered heavily from its planned 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 ad, which ran under the headline “Chinese drone accidentally entered US airspace due to uncontrollable forces,” according to The China Project, ranked ninth priority place.
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“Blinken, China didn’t invite you, don’t hold yourself in high regard,” another user wrote in the comments section of the article.
Another user wrote: “Come or don’t come, we don’t care.”
