Opinion: China's Increasing Hostility

• Chinese surveillance balloon destroyed after traveling across the U.S.
• The Pentagon waited more than a week before shooting down the craft
• President Biden's decision-making process showed weakness
• America needs to reset its relations with China to address its hostility

The nation's eyes turned skyward as a Chinese surveillance balloon wafted over America last week. China brushed off the episode claiming it was a weather balloon gone astray, a preposterous lie even for a Communist regime.  Make no mistake: This was a deliberate provocation by China's military.  

Americans watched in disbelief as the balloon maneuvered over an underground nuclear missile silo in Montana.  The balloon hovered over the site before continuing its trek through our airspace. After nearly a week, President Biden green lighted the downing of the balloon over the Atlantic Ocean.  

The president was under increasing political pressure because the optics of a Chinese craft in American airspace called for a response. Military brass, according to the White House, advised against shooting down the ballon for days because of the risk of harmful debris in populated areas.

Finally on Saturday, an Air Force F-22 Raptor jet fired one air-to-air A9X sidewinder missile that tore through the balloon at an altitude of 58,000 feet.  The airship tumbled into the the Atlantic Ocean, scattering debris over a seven-mile area.  Military officials hope to recover sensitive spy electronics.

The administration expects popping the balloon to close the book on the Chinese spy drama.  But the entire episode raises a range of disturbing issues about America's slow response, future relations with the Communist nation and the increasing confrontational hostility of China.

China's use of an old-school espionage balloon was a curious decision. Surveillance balloons were first used in World War I.  Today's superpowers use low orbit satellites, packed with sophisticated electronics, to  photograph, eavesdrop, scoop up signals intelligence and map military installations.

So why did China use a low-tech, highly visible balloon?  The guess is that China's strategy was to invade American airspace to test America's response.  If that was the mission, the Biden administration flunked.  The president's decision-making response showed weakness that will be exploited by China.

China will not only factor Biden's actions into future military decisions, but the Communist regime will take advantage of the episode to sow skepticism among U.S. allies about America's role in protecting their interests when it cannot defend its homeland. 

There is also the issue of the Pentagon's decision to keep Americans in the dark about the approaching Chinese craft. Reports confirm the Pentagon knew January 28 that the balloon was headed to the continental U.S. after flying over Alaska, the Aleutian Islands and Canada.  

Once the airship was over Alaska, Biden should have called China's Xi Jinping and served notice the balloon would be shot down. The balloon could have been destroyed over lightly populated Alaska or the Aleutian Islands.  Inexplicably, the president said he was notified until February 1.   

If the roles were reversed, China would have obliterated a U.S. spy balloon as soon as it entered that country's airspace.  

Now there are news reports a Chinese spy balloon crashed into the Pacific off the coast of Hawaii four months ago.  Another spy airship flew over portions of Texas and Florida during the Trump administration. What other Chinese aggression has been kept secret from the American people?

Americans deserve answers.  

Congress must call the military brass accountable for its lack of transparency. The agency never acknowledged the spy balloon until it was captured by amateur photographers and television news cameras as the airship drifted over Montana.  This is not the transparency we were promised.

Why did the Pentagon wait so long?  It  seems plausible that the administration preferred to hide the airspace incursion from Congress and Americans. Perhaps, it was a desperate attempt to salvage Secretary of State Antony Blinken's upcoming diplomatic trip to China to ease tense relations. 

Once the Pentagon ended its charade, Blinken had no choice but to nix the visit to China.  If the trip had gone forward, it would have signaled America was willing to forget the affront and return to business as usual relations with the Communists.

The balloon incident underscores China's growing bellicose actions. Under Xi, China has invaded Taiwan airspace on numerous occasions and conducted military exercises near the island nation.  China has cozied up to Russia since its Ukraine invasion, even conducting joint military exercises. 

A recent memo authored by Four Star Air Force Gen. Mike Minihan warned he believes that the U.S. and China will go to battle in 2025. His warning comes on the heels of CIA Director Williams Burns' revelation that President XI has ordered his military to be ready for action no later than 2027.

America needs to stop treating China as a friendly nation.  Business ties between the two countries have skewed our perspective.  China's stated goal is dominate the world militarily and economically, spreading its Communist doctrine to every nation. Hopefully, the spy balloon is America's wake-up call.