- The balloon incident threatens efforts to normalize relations.
- Some lawmakers are demanding that Biden hold China accountable.
- A Republican lawmaker called for the balloons to be shot down.
Washington: A political upheaval over a suspect. Chinese spy balloon The drift over the United States not only disrupted a planned visit to Beijing by a top US diplomat, but also threatens to derail efforts by the two countries to stabilize increasingly rocky ties.
The reaction in the United States to what appears to be a botched spying mission will have lasting consequences for efforts to stabilize the relationship — which is already near historic lows. Some US lawmakers are calling for it. President Joe BidenOne Democrat blamed China for what officials call an unacceptable violation of American sovereignty.
US Secretary of State Antony Blankenship, who postponed a trip that had begun on Friday, said he would be willing to visit Beijing “when circumstances permit,” but the administration could be under pressure to cut short trips to China. offer serious goodwill gestures for early recovery. analysts said.
Daniel Russell, the top U.S. diplomat for Asia under then-President Barack Obama, said China’s “ludicrous alibi” that the plane was a faulty weather balloon did not help.
“This incident has soured the atmosphere and hardened the positions, and there’s no guarantee that either side will ‘early,'” Russell said, referring to the November meeting between Biden and Biden. can successfully revive momentum.” Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Indonesia where they agreed to increase communications.
Relations between the superpowers have been strained over the past few years, and last August, then-Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, sank to their worst level in decades. Visited Taiwan.That prompted Beijing to conduct military exercises near the Chinese-claimed island.
Since then, the Biden administration has said it hopes to create a “floor” for the relationship and ensure that animosity does not escalate into conflict.
But Republicans who control the House are already working on ways to investigate potential threats from the United States’ top geopolitical rival and have been quick to turn the heat on Biden about the ballooning, questioning whether he is a U.S. How was permission granted to enter the airspace?
Call to shoot the balloon
Michael McCaul, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, on Friday demanded to know why the administration did not drop the balloon, accusing the president of posing a “direct and ongoing national security threat to the American homeland.” “Let it happen.
China has often complained about surveillance of its growing military by US ships and aircraft, although in recent years such operations have been conducted from widely recognized international waters and airspace.
China’s mood on the balloon was also gloomy. The government lamented that an “airship” used for civil meteorology and other scientific purposes had gone astray. However, some Chinese domestic observers were highly critical of the US response.
“If Blinken were to cancel his visit to Beijing because of the balloon, I would see him using that as an excuse to do what he wanted to do – not visit China,” Zhou Feng said. School of International Relations at Nanjing University, speaking before the State Department announced the cancellation of the trip.
Some analysts say that if Blanken had gone ahead with the visit, it would have exposed the administration to further criticism of its weak approach to China and weak views in Congress, which has a tough stance on Beijing. There is bipartisan support for
Lost opportunities
Expectations for Blanken’s trip were low, but he had planned to highlight cases of American citizens who the US says have been wrongfully detained in China, and to stop the flow of fentanyl to Beijing. was to press for cooperation, in both areas where there would be any progress. Create momentum that can carry over into other conversations.
Ivan Kanapathi, the former deputy senior director for Asia at the White House’s National Security Council, said he expected a congressional hearing on China that would make it difficult for Blankenship to justify a visit to Beijing when Unless they can win the release of the detained Americans or return with another big prize
China, too, wants a stable relationship with the US so it can focus on its economy, which has been affected by the now-abandoned zero-COVID policy.
Blankenship’s visit – which will be the first by a secretary of state to China since 2018 – was seen largely as an attempt to develop ways to deal with future crises. With new House Speaker Kevin McCarthy likely to visit Taiwan this year, the next crisis may not be far away.
“Overall, I think the Biden administration would like to reschedule, because there are so many issues on the table and a real chance of a meltdown. But the balloon incident probably means the meltdown is postponed indefinitely. given,” said the RAND Corporation Indo-Pacific. Analyst Derek Grossman.
But Ryan Haas, a China expert at the Brookings Institution, said on Twitter that China’s balloon operation at least gave the U.S. and China an opportunity to work out the principles of engagement in space and at high altitudes, where both countries’ militaries are deployed. Quickly come into close contact.
“We must not miss this opportunity to materially reduce the threat and prevent future violations of US airspace by PRC spy balloons,” Haas said.