Amid the diplomatic spat over the high-altitude balloon that flew across North America before being shot down by the US air force, China is taking the opportunity to drum up nationalistic fervour among its citizens – and the tactic appears to be working well.
The balloon incident has burst the facade of a three-month, uneasy peace between China and the US since the summit between Xi Jinping and Joe Biden in November.
With China shifting away from the aggressive and nationalistic rhetoric that became characteristic of Xi’s diplomatic style during this time, there were hopes that it would mark a truce in the often volatile relations between the two world powers.
But such hopes rapidly evaporated after a balloon was spotted flying over US airspace last week.
China initially expressed regret, but after its explanation that the balloon was used for civilian purposes was rejected by the United States and the balloon was shot down, the war of words swiftly resumed.
Amid widespread discontent from three years of Covid lockdown and an economic crisis, China has resorted to nationalism to stoke hostility among its people towards its political rival. Over the past few days, the party’s propaganda machine pulled out all the stops to ensure that the public opinion was in accordance with the party’s narratives.
The hawkish English-language state newspaper Global Times blamed the US’s “hysterical overreaction” for flaming tensions. It also accused the US of “hyping” the number of China’s intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launchers and playing up the “China threat theory” to boost its own military and nuclear might.
“This [incident] makes the toxic atmosphere of a new cold war swell further,” it said.
Communist party organs also used social media to take the US to task. The Communist Youth Party said on its Sina Weibo channel that the crisis has revealed the “three chronic illnesses” of the US: anti-intellectualism, party politics and political correctness.
“Some American politicians and media, without any factual basis, jumped to conclusions, fanning the flames and orchestrated a farce,” it said.
Accusing Biden of bowing to political pressure from the Republicans to act tough on China, the “strayed balloon” incident has been reduced to a tool of American party struggle, it said.
It further blamed US politicians of “poisoning public opinion with the “China threat theory” for the sake of political correctness.
Lu Shaye, China’s ambassador to France, told Global Times that the US exaggerated the balloon incident to “smear China”, after a string of “unfriendly moves” including military and technological blockades and disagreements over Taiwan. He warned that it could become “a trigger point of conflicts” in bilateral relations.
The country’s Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like platform policed by state-backed internet censors, is awash with patriotic voices. Videos featuring key opinion leaders unanimously ridiculed and lambasted the United States for undermining China.
“China must not swallow its anger and allow the US to throw dirty water all over us. China must dare to expose the US’ nasty deeds. There is no need to give them ‘face’ any more,” said a stock analyst on his Weibo account.
“A civil balloon has revealed the imperialist United State’s bottom line,” said another commenter.
“The rise of one great power would definitely go along with another great power’s demise,” said one comment.
