Beijing is to blame

In a season of airship talk with the 1937 Hindenburg fire of Zeppelin, revived as a side-discussion by a financial scandal, the US shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon, which Beijing claimed was the only US airspace by accident. wandered in the area. It was the circular type, rather than the oblong blips used by Germany for espionage in World War I, but the US saw it as a clear and present threat. The unauthorized flying object was shot down by a missile fired by a fighter jet, with debris falling off the South Carolina coast, where it could be retrieved for examination. China protested saying it was for meteorological purposes, but for a country equipped with the precise technology that can shoot down a moving satellite in space, the story is too hard to swallow. In any case, the sighting of similar balloons elsewhere suggests an ulterior motive. With the US Secretary of State canceling a planned visit to China, diplomatic relations in the Pacific have cooled. In this instance, it appears to be Beijing’s fault. It should have been done judiciously. Our common global interests must not be held hostage by another Cold War that further divides the world.