China reiterated on Saturday that the balloon incident is an “unexpected force majeure situation” in which the “facts are clear,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. Beijing is angry because it believes the incident was deliberately blown up when it could have been handled with “cool heads and caution”. “Some US politicians and the media have gone too far in attacking and discrediting China,” the note underlines, drawing on the Asian giant’s usual rhetoric in the long list of disputes and allegations that have ravaged relations between the two superpowers. increasingly dominate.
The Chinese statement was released Saturday morning after it was revealed that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s planned visit to Beijing on Sunday had been canceled. The suspension of the trip is due to the fact that the United States considers the event a “clear violation” of its sovereignty. In the State Department text — two paragraphs of thoughtful argument — the Chinese authorities acknowledge the travel disruption: “In fact,” the statement points out, “neither side has ever announced a visit. It is for the United States to make its final announcement and we respect that.”
Wang Yi, head of the Communist Party’s foreign affairs body and one of the people Blinken was to meet on his trip, met with the American on Friday night. In it, he assured Beijing would not accept “any speculation or unfounded exaggeration”. In the conversation, “both sides discussed how to handle the incident calmly and professionally,” according to the official reading of the conversation collected by the Chinese side. Wang, who served as foreign minister for nearly a decade until 2022, told Blinken that in an unexpected situation, both sides should calm down, communicate in a timely manner, avoid errors of judgment and deal with differences.
The State Department’s statement on Saturday follows a statement also issued by the State Department late Friday in which Beijing acknowledged that the balloon came from China and apologized: “The Chinese side regrets the involuntary entry of the aircraft in US airspace.” he said.
While the US suspects the balloon played espionage and surveillance roles, China claims it was “a civilian aircraft” used for meteorological research purposes that was “affected by westerly winds and deviated from plumb line with limited autopilot capability.” class.
China’s foreign ministry guarantees that the Asian superpower’s behavior has been adequate: “China always acts in strict accordance with international law and respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries,” he said. “We do not intend to violate the territory or airspace of any sovereign country and we never have.”
US President Joe Biden talks via video link with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on November 15. Demetrius Freeman Getty
The balloon incident has once again strained fragile Beijing-Washington relations, which have been marred in recent times by distrust, confrontation and mistrust. Relations reached an all-time low in the summer after then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, the autonomous island that China considers an inalienable part of its territory and to which the United States supplies defense equipment. But US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping managed to seal something of an entente in November when they met at the G-20 in Bali, Indonesia, the first physical confrontation between the two since Biden’s arrival to the White House. At that meeting, they were urged to continue negotiations over Blinken’s visit to China earlier this year.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry statement recalled the lines drawn at the Bali meeting: “Maintaining contact and communication at all levels is an important common understanding between the Chinese and US presidents during their meeting in Bali,” it argued. he. “One of the tasks of the diplomatic teams on both sides is to manage bilateral relations well – he continues – especially to deal with unexpected situations with a cool head and caution.”
The Chinese press insists on the same statements. The state-run Global Times newspaper, part of the propaganda machine, publishes a front-page article on Saturday entitled “America. exaggerates the spy balloon and takes the “Chinese threat” to a new level”. The text, citing several analysts in the country, guarantees that the latest signals sent to Beijing from Washington have been “completely chaotic”, a situation “which could add even more uncertainty to already tense bilateral relations”.
It is likely that the balloon accident has some work to do. The craft, which flew over sensitive areas of US territory — the state of Montana, home to one of the country’s intercontinental nuclear missile silos — joined a second craft discovered by the Pentagon during a flight over Latin America. This other aircraft also performs surveillance functions, US Defense Department spokesman General Patrick Ryder told media on Friday.
Source: La Neta Neta
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
