I think the most likely scenario is that China intentionally flew a regular weather balloon with bunch of western tech in it knowing precisely how US would react.

In the eyes of anybody outside the western sphere the reaction looks equal parts unhinged and incompetent. US couldn't take decisive action on what to do, then Biden ordered to shoot it down, got overruled by the military initially. Finally, they let the balloon sail all the way across the country before shooting it down in the ocean.

It was a huge spectacle and deeply humiliated the US. Chinese wouldn't even answer Austin's calls about it to rub the salt in the wound.

US ultimately having shot down the balloon also gives China the precedent they need to shoot down anything US might try to fly in their airspace going forward.

Overall a masterful troll by China.

[–] guojing@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I think the most likely scenario is that China intentionally flew a regular weather balloon with bunch of western tech in it knowing precisely how US would react.

That's impossible because weather balloons aren't steerable. There was just an unusual wind. If it was really a spy balloon, the US also wouldn't have quietly allowed it to fly over Alaska and Canada.

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2023/02/nyt-plants-false-claims-over-chinas-balloon-communication.html

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 years ago

You can't send a balloon with any degree of accuracy, hence why the spy claims are ridiculous. However, you can send it in the air streams that have predictable patterns due to Earth rotating. So you can put a balloon up in the upper atmosphere and have it drift around the world with high likelihood of eventually making it over some part of US. Incidentally, US did this themselves to China back in the 50s https://theintercept.com/2023/02/07/china-balloon-soviet-union/

Another reason China wouldn't send a spy balloon is that US obviously has the capability to shoot the balloon down and would almost certainly do so. China wouldn't want to give US access to any actual spy tech and learn their capabilities.

[–] JackFromWisconsin@midwest.social 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

If you believe a country can be humiliated by a balloon... sorry I just don't buy the narrative that this was some "5d chess plan" by China.

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 7 points 2 years ago

US very clearly demonstrated that a country can indeed be humiliated by a balloon. Sending a balloon over US is no more 5d chess than US flying Pelosi to Taiwan to try and get a rise out of China.

The difference in how the two countries reacted respectively really says everything one needs to know about who's got their shit together.

[–] frippa@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

The best thing that came ot of this shitshow was that masterful CGI by a Chinese troll-comrade about the balloon

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 years ago

that was a masterpiece