The Chinese foreign office claimed that a civilian research balloon (no company name revealed) had somehow lost its way and drifted into US airspace all the way from mainland China.
When America shot it down, they said that it’s a test of US sincerity in peaceful engagement. What are they really saying? Does it mean that if a US civilian research balloon were drift out of control and end up in China’s airspace, they would engage it “peacefully” or perhaps even leave it alone?
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is said to have rescheduled his visit after the balloon fiasco. China’s foreign office again issued a statement saying that there was never a meeting in a first place. Thanks to the not so forgetful netizens, there is in fact a statement dated 18 January 2023 by China’s foreign office inviting Blinken for a meeting. It’s really puzzling how these folks could make such unreasonable remarks, lie through their teeth and get away with it.