Since the shooting down of a Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina, China has threatened new acts of retaliation.
The Chinese Defense Ministry claimed that the United States’ actions were an “obvious overreaction.” Proceeding to announce that they may have retaliation as well.
“The U.S. attack on Chinese civilian unmanned airship by force is an obvious overreaction,” Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman, Senior Colonel Tan Kefei said according to the Global Times.
Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Senior Colonel Tan Kefei also chimed in, saying that China reserves the right to take reciprocal actions to aircraft flown above China from the U.S..
“We solemnly protest this move by the US side and reserve the right to take necessary measures to deal with similar situations,” Kefei said in the statement made on Sunday.
The Global Times is known for its pro-China rhetoric and used to ensure that China’s reputation is maintained as innocent but the comments made in their report show just where China stands on this issue.
The Chinese government has made multiple comments about the balloon saying that America choosing to shoot the balloon down was equivalent to “shooting a mosquito with cannon” some have said.
Lü Xiang, a Chinese Academy of Social Sciences research fellow told the Global Times this past Sunday that the balloon may have been harmless but America proceeded to shoot it down for other reasons.
“In fact, such high-altitude balloon is equipped with cutting-edge technologies in terms of material, which the US side may have yet had. Shooting it down caused the loss for the Chinese side and the relevant technology research firm has the right to file claims against the US,” Lü told the Global Times.
However, many have begun to speculate that shooting the balloon down may cause relations between U.S. and China to significantly escalate.
“From the US government to public opinion, the balloon incident has been exploited to instigate fermenting anti-China sentiment, which will only make the US’ China policy more aggressive,” professor at the Institute of International Relations at the China Foreign Affairs University, Lia Haidong also told the Global Times.
Despite the obvious pro-china bias in the comments above, one thing has become abundantly clear: tensions are about to rise significantly.
“If the US does not make the difference, should China make a difference? Should China also take reciprocal measures? The US must carefully consider the consequences,” Lü went on to say.
The so-called “expert” also said that this instance of shooting down a “civilian” balloon that was unmanned may generate dangerous precedent between the two countries.
“If the US does not differentiate between civilian and military aircraft, then it has made a very bad precedent in treating the China-US relations,” Lü said to the Global Times.
As China continues to deny any malpractice used in the balloon that crossed over American airspace this week it appears that they are saying they may take similar action to “civilian unmanned airship(s)” that cross through their airspace.
Depending on how you interpret these comments many speculate that their comments may be a direct threat to the United States.
Stay tuned to more breaking updates on this matter…