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In an interview with RFI, the professor of international relations at the European University Frederic Mertens believes that the Chinese spy balloon incident is a way for Beijing to test the United States’ ability to “confront tensions on two fronts at once.” and, at the same time, ‘push them into making a mistake’.
R.F.I. At least two Chinese balloons have flown over the United States as well as three Latin American countries, including Costa Rica, Colombia and Venezuela. The first balloon, which flew over sensitive sites on US soil, was shot down by a US missile off the coast of South Carolina. In protest, Washington canceled the official visit to Beijing by its Secretary of State, Antony Blinken. What do you think of this incident?
This reminds us Westerners, and especially Americans, that the danger is more China than Russia. China shows muscle. It is a way for Beijing to say: “We are very strong.” And this is done just before Secretary of State Blinken’s visit to Beijing. In this way they show that they are very powerful, that they are in a one-on-one situation at the geopolitical level with the United States, in a situation of equality at the level of geopolitical hegemonic power.
An American Side Winder missile shot down the Chinese balloon. This shot has created a dangerous precedent, since it is an American shot against a Chinese target. Why this pressure from China to the United States?
From a military point of view, sending a missile against a balloon is not complicated. What is at stake here for China is whether the United States is able to geopolitically manage greater tensions with China and, at the same time, Putin’s ongoing nuclear threat, as well as the Russian threat to invade another European country. Because now the Russians talk a lot about (invading) Moldova.
Also read: A Chinese spy balloon was also detected in Costa Rica, Colombia and Venezuela
What could be China’s ultimate goal?
I believe that it is not only a matter of testing the ability of the United States to manage several fronts at the same time, but also of pushing the Americans to the fault. That the Americans commit a “disproportionate action” that threatens the Chinese government. The Chinese have said this week that if an American plane flies over Taiwan in the future, since they consider Taiwan to be part of China, then they reserve the right to shoot down the American plane in the same way that the Americans have shot down the Chinese balloon above it. from North American territory.
