Now that I have posted a logical thought sequence on this issue in the Clean Debate Zone, I will now explain to a wider audience what I think the US should have done in response to the Chinese Balloon provocation. Since this was no accident, the US should considered what response was desired by China.
China's #1 priority is reunite Taiwan with the mainland (similar to its takeover of Hong Kong). In order to achieve that objective, the US protective air cover over Taiwan must be compromised. This can only be done by establishing a credible excuse for threatening to shoot down any foreign aircraft invading claimed Chinese airspace (including Taiwan). The shooting down of the Chinese "weather balloon" by the US over its territory would create a precedent for that excuse.
THEREFORE, the US should have refrained from grandstanding* about shooting down that balloon over its territory, and instead greatly increased its own aerial surveillance over China. If China shot down any (unmanned) US aircraft over its territory, the US could paint China as the violator of international airspace agreements, reaffirm its support of Taiwan, and rally other countries to join in sanctions against China.
*The Chinese balloon should have allowed to leave US airspace and then mysteriously disappear over the Atlantic Ocean. The US Navy could then have embarked on a "rescue mission" to retrieve and inspect its remains before returning it to China with public condolences and a private warning to cease and desist from future "accidents."
China's #1 priority is reunite Taiwan with the mainland (similar to its takeover of Hong Kong). In order to achieve that objective, the US protective air cover over Taiwan must be compromised. This can only be done by establishing a credible excuse for threatening to shoot down any foreign aircraft invading claimed Chinese airspace (including Taiwan). The shooting down of the Chinese "weather balloon" by the US over its territory would create a precedent for that excuse.
THEREFORE, the US should have refrained from grandstanding* about shooting down that balloon over its territory, and instead greatly increased its own aerial surveillance over China. If China shot down any (unmanned) US aircraft over its territory, the US could paint China as the violator of international airspace agreements, reaffirm its support of Taiwan, and rally other countries to join in sanctions against China.
*The Chinese balloon should have allowed to leave US airspace and then mysteriously disappear over the Atlantic Ocean. The US Navy could then have embarked on a "rescue mission" to retrieve and inspect its remains before returning it to China with public condolences and a private warning to cease and desist from future "accidents."
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