The balloon that blew up any détente between China and the US.

The episode of the alleged Chinese spy balloon that flew over the United States has caused a new political crisis between the two powers that has blown up any attempt at détente in a climate of growing mutual mistrust.

For Beijing, the fact that Washington shot down the aircraft made attempts to channel the relationship fall on deaf ears after the meeting held last November in Bali by their respective presidents, Joe Biden and Xi Jinping, to reduce tensions.

Initially, China asked USA No “speculate” with what happened to later acknowledge that, indeed, the aircraft was his, but that it was “for civilian use” and “diverted from its original course due to force majeure”.

The officials of the Asian country emphasize that it was a “accident” that “at no time were the citizens or national security of the United States endangered”, but above all they accuse Washington of “seriously harm” relations for the decision to shoot down the balloon, whose remains fell into the ocean and are being recovered.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirbyhas assured that his country does not intend to return the remains of the device to Chinawhich in turn asserts that it will protect its “legitimate rights and interests”.

In Chinese eyes, the episode is seen as part of an incessant campaign by the United States to discredit the Asian country: “What they have done is a provocation, and a serious one. Sooner or later, they will pay the price for their recklessness.”, accuses the official newspaper Global Times, one of the speakers of the ruling Communist Party (PCCh), in its editorial on Tuesday.

Whether the Chinese version of the nature of the balloon and its loss is true or not, the incident led to the suspension of the trip that the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, planned to make to the Asian country last weekend, a blow for those who they saw an opportunity to calm things down between them.

See also:

World recession would drag down Peruvian GDP with growth below 2% this year

climate of suspicion

Judging by the comments of the Chinese state press, the entente reached by Biden and Xi seems to have blown up: “The way in which the United States has dealt with this matter is extremely rude and irrational. It is clear that the balloon was a harmless civil aircraft and that the Chinese side had expressed its willingness to discuss this matter,” the newspaper added.

According to the newspaper, “the Biden administration was unable to make the right decision for fear of being criticized by the Republican Party”, which made “turn an accident into an incident” and, with the downing of the aircraft, they would like to “create a political crisis”.

The newspaper quotes the expert Sun Chenghao, from the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University, for whom “the inability of the Biden administration to resist pressure will only fuel provocations or fuel irrational sentiments against China. They will create more and more obstacles for the exchanges until they destroy the relations”.

“What happened is a true reflection of the climate of suspicion that conditions the relationship between the two countries and the high level of deterioration accumulated in the last five years.”, comments the Spanish expert Xulio Ríos, from the Chinese Policy Observatory.

See also:

Businessmen from the Pacific Alliance seek to promote a marketplace

“An episode of these characteristics takes its toll on both and shows the enormous difficulty that exists even to guarantee communication at basic levels”, he adds.

Ríos stresses that the incident takes place at a time when the United States has just gained access to four more military bases in the Philippines while NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg was visiting Japan or Seoul to “point the finger at china again”.

“The recent US pressure on its allies to limit exports to China or the survey of a total ban on the Huawei technology suggest one twist after another that will make things very difficult for Beijing”, indicates the expert.

To the political crisis, trade disputes or technological rivalry we must add the Taiwanese issue: while Chinese Army planes and ships continue to intensify their incursions near the island, there is speculation about the visit to Taipei by Republican Kevin McCarthy -president of the US House of Representatives – this spring, “what in Beijing will be read in terms of provocation and not exactly appeasement”, says Rios.

Source: EFE