Balloon case demonstrates US hysteria vis-à-vis China

The Joe Biden administration's handling of the Chinese balloon case last week was meant to showcase the United States' strategic strength amid fierce attacks by Republicans and the low approval ratings of US officials. But instead it has shown to the world how immature and irresponsible — indeed hysterical — the US has been in dealing with the case.

To begin with, many US officials, media outlets and political pundits claim it was a "spy balloon" despite not having any evidence to back up their claim and regardless of China explaining that it was a balloon for research, mainly meteorological research, which went out of control and deviated far from its planned course due to strong winds.

For at least a week, the whole US has been obsessed with the Chinese civilian balloon, as US politicians and media projected it as a grave threat to US national security. But they should realize that it does not make sense for China to spy on the US using a balloon the size of three school buses while modern surveillance satellites can do a much better job, and surreptitiously too.