Balloon incident｜The United States wins the early public opinion war and Beijing needs to get rid of the passive situation

After the US military shot down the Chinese balloon, the situation did not calm down.

In the official press release of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on February 6, there were 13 questions about Chinese balloons.

Reporters from mainstream western media such as Reuters, Agence France-Presse, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Bloomberg took turns to ask questions of the Chinese spokesperson.

So far, this matter is not just a balloon off-course incident, but a major Sino-US diplomatic crisis, a Sino-US public opinion war.

The U.S. has rendered this as a major Chinese spy balloon invasion of U.S. airspace. The U.S. military’s dispatch of advanced F-22 fighter jets to shoot down the balloon can be regarded as a powerful and tough performance.

The White House, the State Department, and the Pentagon held press conferences in turn, and various politicians in the United States spoke out one after another. Almost all mainstream American media focused on the incident.

Japan once discovered flying objects similar to Chinese reconnaissance balloons flying to the continental United States on June 17, 2020, and over Miyagi Prefecture on September 3, 2021.

Pictured is one of them.

(@BalloonSciDan Twitter)

In the way of coping, there is a serious inequality between China and the United States.

The United States has completed a mobilization of public opinion from the government, military, politicians, media, and think tanks, creating a tsunami of public opinion on this matter, updating the plot version in a timely manner every day, official press conferences and media live broadcast blessings, massive information output, dissemination and consolidation of the United States position.

However, China did not treat this matter as a major diplomatic public opinion and public relations incident, and it is completely unequal to the United States in terms of momentum, sound and response.

On the Chinese side, only the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to this matter at a regular press conference, but he was actually in a passive position in this public opinion war.

Although the actions of the Biden administration have the color of being forced by public opinion, the Biden administration has obtained huge political dividends through a series of operations.

He once again showed a tough stance internally and won the support of the public.

Externally, China is once again portrayed as an irresponsible country and a provocative party that poses a major threat to the security of other countries.

After the U.S. military sent warplanes to shoot down a Chinese balloon on February 4, Reuters photographers captured what appeared to be the balloon's downfall in Holden Beach, North Carolina.

(Reuters)

Although China's remarks are very rigorous and have been communicating with the US side in a rational manner, this matter has deviated from China's planned rational handling track.

"This unmanned airship is of a civilian nature and is used for scientific research purposes such as meteorology", "This is an accidental and accidental event caused by force majeure", "The US used force to attack the civilian unmanned airship that entered by mistake, which is an overreaction and violates international practice." However, the above statement is no longer enough to present the whole picture of the situation, nor is it enough to win the initiative of public opinion for China.

All parties are concerned about how China will retaliate against the U.S. military for shooting down Chinese balloons, why Chinese balloons reappeared in Latin America, and whether the balloons are spy balloons.

China needs to give more forceful details of its position.

Since the unmanned airship is of a civilian nature, it should be disclosed exactly what civilian nature it is.

Since it is an unmanned airship that is out of control, which Chinese company owns the unmanned airship, when was it released, and what is the planned route? Does the relevant Chinese company know that the unmanned airship has lost control? When did the relevant Chinese company know about the airship? Out of control.

Now that the appearance of Chinese unmanned airships has been expressed by Latin American countries, which countries express their understanding.

The details are actually the most powerful evidence.

So far, China has not taken advantage of the balloon incident, and its attitude of a responsible major country is worthy of recognition.

However, when the United States deliberately overplays this matter, what should China do to win the initiative, and what should be done so as not to be hurt by the attacks of American public opinion? It is time to carefully plan for this.

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