U.S.-China relations hit by downed ‘spy balloon’

The US decision to shoot down a Chinese balloon jeopardized a bilateral relationship that had already deteriorated over time. About it writes Politico newspaper.

The publication notes that the incident with the “spy ball” struck the United States, as it was actively covered live and demonstrated the reality of the Chinese threat.

As former U.S. Department of Defense official Lyle Morris has pointed out, this has sufficiently undermined the level of trust in US-China relations, since espionage has not yet taken place in such an overt form.

But the incident is likely to further damage, rather than break, bilateral relations, the newspaper notes. At present, Beijing is set to tone down its dialogue with Washington, so the Xi Jinping administration may limit the reaction to the downed balloon.

“If the United States returns the remnants of the balloon and proves that it is a spy invention and not a weather-tracking device, this could further embarrass Xi and force him to retreat,” said analyst Yun Sun.

The appearance of a Chinese intelligence apparatus over the northern part of the United States became known on Friday, February 3.

After the ball was shot down, the US Department of Defense published an official comment by the head of the Pentagon, Lloyd Austin, who stated that the object was destroyed on the orders of US President Joe Biden.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry expressed regret due to the fact that the device was “due to force majeure by mistake” on American territory.