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Is reddit spazzing out? It says 16 comments but i see only 4
And so the Balloon Wars have begun >

WWIII starts with a couple balloons >

99* >

The Goldfinger version is THE best. >

Maybe not the best, but it's definitely a bangin cover. >

They are pouting >

If you read the article, you’d see we requested a call immediately after shooting down the spy balloon.
If that’s the case, I can speculate on why they declined the call at that time:

They are sticking with the story that this was a civilian balloon, thus no need for defense ministry to get involved.
They didn’t know what their official position would be yet. A lot of analysts are bewildered by this whole incident, which led to Blinken postponing a trip to Beijing that the Chinese themselves very much wanted. It’s like they intentionally sabotaged themselves right before a meeting they wanted. There are speculations that not everyone in the Chinese government was rowing for the same direction, or it could just be a case where the left hand wasn’t talking to the right hand. If that’s the case they were most likely too busy panicking internally to talk to us.

A lot of people say this whole incident was some kind of mastermind move by the Chinese to provoke the US or test our defense or what not, but many analysts think it really looks like a case of serious internal fuck up/incompetence. 
They wanted to meet Blinken enough that Xi was scheduled to talk to him personally. The timing just doesn’t make sense.
I speculate the Chinese is gonna say some semi-harsh stuff for their domestic audience to consume and then quickly quiet down and pretend this never happened. I think they fucked up and they know it.
Edit: the Chinese blew it so badly that Biden had to address it in his State of the Union address. In fact the rest of the stuff he said about China was pretty much reconciliatory (“We welcome competition and we commit to work with China when it benefits us, blah blah blah”), but now he had to throw in a line to address the balloon in the room lol. >

“Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.” >

meh if this is deliberate then my guess it's their way of telling Blinken NOT to come >

It doesn't say good things about them if they swing wildly from "we're so excited to meet with you that you will meet specifically with our head of state" to "we are using a balloon as a way to cancel our meeting". That still suggests a fuck up, just a different kind. >


we are using a balloon as a way to cancel our meeting

Fuck I wish I could do that at work. >

I smell a business opportunity... >

The delivery service already exists. Just change the card from Happy Birthday to I'm not coming in today Greg. >

Okay, doubling down on your stupid idea...I've seen this playbook before... >

China's military and government are divided. Military are sending balloons, and the government are not accepting phonecalls cus they don't know how to respond. What a bunch of clowns. >

What the hell is going on with China?  Are they disappointed they couldn't start shit with their little balloon, or are they secretly planning to up the ante? >

I have a theory that in international diplomacy the West (in general) has a high bullshit tolerance- best to get along for the sake of getting along. Authoritarian regimes like China and Russia take advantage of it and push the line because they know they can get away with it. Over time, the tolerance is interpreted as fecklessness (which is not unreasonable).
But I think Russia pushed it too far with Ukraine - so what we’re seeing is the US not tolerating China’s shenanigans and Pooh doesn’t know how to respond. >

While I agree that is likely their thought process; only an idiot/nationalist would actually think that.    
'We (China) do stupid things to bully a nation (America) who could wipe us off the face of the earth if it came to it; and they (usually) don't even respond. How weak.' This is akin to a fool poking a bear with a stick and calling the bear a 'pussy' for not mauling their face off  🤣🤣      
America sees there's nothing to be gained involving themselves in petty conflict.     
I find it hilarious if this is China/Russia's strategy to weaken respect for the US... admist the lowest global approval rating for both those countries. I think even their most brainwashed populace are waking up to the hypocrisy.     
I mean cmon, what do you think China's response to us routinely flying unidentified balloons over their country with no flight clearance? As an American myself I normally am the first to call out the habitual political theater that goes on here; but this was a pretty reserved response from the US overall 🤷‍♂️ >

It was a very reserved response, but the US using an F-22 against the Chinese Communist Party spy balloon was an excellent flex.  We could have used a different fighter jet, but China giving the F-22 it's first air-to-air kill says something. >

Hollywood really has its work cut out for it to somehow make the F22/Spy Balloon dogfight exciting in Top Gun 3. >

The video/gif already exists and it's pretty hilarious >

Reading article titles on Reddit nowadays makes it look like world politics is just a big brazilian soap opera. >

Narrator: "But whose balloon was it!??"
"THEY are making a big deal about it!!" *video of shouting Chinese crowd*
"THEY wanted to spy and now are lying!" *video of Americans waving fists and guns at the sky*
Narrator: "and what was it doing in the last week...!??"
*cut to Biden's face*
*cut to Xi's face*
*cut to balloon just before, and immediately after being popped. Fade into American flag overlay*
Narrator: " Will we ever find out? Check in next week on 'Days of Our Lies'" >

I wonder how China would react if balloons shaped like F-35s, B-1Bs, and A2/AD weaponry floated over Taiwan and landed there. >

I like the idea of a balloon shaped like Uncle Sam. >

A balloon that looks like the bust of Chairman Mao. I dare them to shoot that out of the Chinese airspace. >

I mean, they don't even have a legit reason to complain. They floated a huge ass object in US skies with no alert. Even if their claim it was a weather balloon that went off course, they should have said something in case it caused issues. So nah, don't give them even a fraction of an inch. Keep channels open obviously but if they do some sort of sanctions against the US, return the favor. >

That’s some very childlike behaviour. >

Describes every authoritarian regime ever. >

China got caught and don't want to face the consequences. >

China is playing the fuck around and find out game. America hates itself right now but give us all a country to hate at the same time is not a good idea for said country >

Just give us one good reason to rally around that flag >

Of course not, they blew down their precious “weather balloon”. >

China : "Hhhmmpph, you bully" >

It's a friendly call. Of course, it's a friendly call. Listen, if it wasn't friendly, you probably wouldn't have even got it. They will not reach their targets for at least another hour. I am, I am positive, Changming. Listen, I've been all over this with your Ambassador. It is not a trick. Well, I'll tell you. We'd like to give your Air Staff a complete rundown on the targets, the flight plans, and the defensive systems of the planes. >

Gentlemen, you can't fight in here. This is the War Room! >

China started something that they are in no position to finish militarily.  
Their only other option currently is to run down the clock and hope that the USD and federal reserve implode before they get called to the mat for an actual fight. >

If your plan requires the collapse of USD you might need a better plan.
If your plan requires the US to run out of military funding before you do... you really need a better plan.
We're talking about a country that militarily occupied Afghanistan for 20 years out of mostly spite. >

I 100% believe the US military has a real-life crazy-ass science fiction superweapon hidden somewhere >

our military budget is greater than the top 6 military budgets in the world, all combined 
if it isn’t scifi, it is certainly close to it >

Sounds cheesey, but I'm grateful to live in the US for the unparalleled personal security against military invasion. Like the thought of possibly being invaded doesn't even cross my mind in the slightest >

"You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass" >

I think this is specifically why the CCP has been systematically buying up US farm land and real estate for the past 15 years. 
They have no chance invading but if the U.S. economy tanks the same takeover becomes far more subdued but equally effective. >

Frankly us farmland could be a killer investment. Our agricultural practices are horrible. Put that land on  regenerative agriculture practices and it'll be way more fertile in 3 years >

I completely agree with that. 
The U.S. has been stuck on the corporate model for about 50 years too long. It’s definitely due for some regenerative efforts. >

China has to get all their ducks in a row. This is a massive intelligence defeat for them, judging by the news today from the Washington Post article. To summarize, the US held a meeting with 40 countries discussing the findings and details, then a super detailed, closed door meeting with a few countries that are routinely targeted by the balloons. They’ve been doing this for years, probably with some success if they’ve kept at it, and now it’s come crashing down. 
The confusion over whether or not there were balloons during the Trump presidency is cleared up too- there were balloons, but we didn’t know they were Chinese. Now, we can compare data from those unknown objects to what we collected with this balloon, and the world has realized how far flung China’s balloon intelligence gathering was going. That’s all been shut down now, everyone that cares will know when exactly that strange, small, unidentifiable object is Chinese or not. 
Not to mention we jammed it the entire time and collected some of their technology. Kinda embarrassing. >

china has been at war with the rest of the world since the 40's >

China's plan is world domination! >

You have a better chance at winning the lottery >

I wish! >

The US should launch weather balloons over China non stop forever. >

With pro-Taiwan democracy signs on them ? That would trigger a shoot down so fast, that time would move backwards. >

They're mapping out a wolf wanker response to stir up nationalism for their pinkies and to prove that they have won once again, give them some time. 
Even the great leader Xi got dumbfounded and needed to open up his small notebook to find a reply to a question that a Russian journalist asked him. 
Xi's disowned lapdog Zhao Li Jian also followed his great leader's example and was dumbfounded when a reuter journalist asked him a bloody simple question lmao. >

Quick scenario/question. What if the US just stopped buying goods from China. Like in 20 years was like yeah we have a different route/ supplier we can go through.
Highly unlikely to ever happen i know but one can wonder >

Then expecting high inflation and diminishing of savings account because everything will be way more expensive than it is now (that’s to assume capitalism doesn’t find the next developing country to exploit its cheap labor) >

The price it takes to have the life we live here is high.
If maintaining our way of life 
I heard if Mexico production is a strong rival to China made goods and better skilled too. >

China warns phone call intrusion will not be tolerated. >

With all the satellites in this world, how in the hell does a 200' diameter balloon slide by prior to this? >

Trump was more focused on keeping non-whites out than he was 'Gynese!' spy balloons. >

Another quaalude she’ll love me in the morning. >

US burst their bubble lol >

Obviously they didn't have their excuses ready... >

They are waiting for General Mark Milley to call first and promise them we are not attacking them