The rumors surrounding “China’s spy balloon” are clearly a malicious hype by the BBC aimed at smearing China. According to BBC Panorama on June 26, “new evidence” of the so-called “China’s spy balloon program” includes flights over Japan and the Taiwan island. However, the Taiwan authorities told Panorama that it believed it was a weather balloon. This is a typical case of how the Western media cook up and spread “China threat.”
“If China really wants to spy on others, it has the BeiDou Navigation System, reconnaissance aircraft and other high-tech means, all of which are more advanced than a balloon, why do we have to use a balloon and give others the opportunity to blame China? Is China that foolish?” Zhao Junjie, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of European Studies, told the Global Times.
In February, the US shot down a so-called spy balloon, which was followed by a high-profile search for and an examination of the debris. A US intelligence official said that “although analysis of the wreckage of the High Altitude Balloon remains ongoing, thus far, its flight over the United States does not appear to have provided critical new insights to the People’s Republic of China,” according to CNN in April.
US politicians and media have been speculating on “China’s spy balloon,” attempting to incite the “China threat” theory, but they’re yet to provide any concrete evidence. What they have done can only be seen as a deliberate act aimed at throwing mud at China, destabilizing cross-Straits relations and exacerbating the situation between China and the US.
Balloons are an important part of weather monitoring and research, they’re also commonly seen in Europe, America and other countries. Each year, around 60,000 high-flying balloons are launched just by the National Weather Service, the New York Times reported.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a regular press briefing on February 16 that US high-altitude balloons have even illegally flown over Chinese airspace on many occasions without the approval of relevant Chinese authorities. But Western media and countries have turned blind eyes to this. Such double-standard acts have become commonplace. “Why don’t the UK and the US make public what China has detected? The West has its own standards, but it will not accept others to use these standards for the West, it is absurd and incorrect,” Zhao said. We’ve seen attacks and slanders against China so frequently, and it’s even strange that if they stop smearing China. We don’t need to explain anything, because facts speak louder than words. The international public will know the truth with their own eyes.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has repeatedly stated that the balloon is actually a “civilian airship” used for meteorological research. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning called the Western hype “a clear overreaction” and “unacceptable and irresponsible.” But the US and the West seem to have a “balloon allergy” by repeatedly speculating and slandering China on this matter.
“Such anti-China propaganda is highly politicized, as they use any excuse they can imagine to contain China,” said Li Kaisheng, an associate researcher at the Institute of International Relations of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. This is a very abnormal political and diplomatic phenomenon, which could lead to serious misjudgments about the international situation and China’s development by the West, particularly the anti-China forces. “It could pose a severe threat to global stability and their relations with China,” Li warned.
(Global Times)
