It was not the kind of a balloon that was set free by an excited kid on his or her birthday that made news in the United States and the world over. It was not even the case of a stray kite that wandered off into an unwelcome neighborhood. It was kind of a “spy” balloon that apparently the Peoples Republic of China has been experimenting with for quite sometime now, trying to find out what its friends and adversaries are up to on just about anything.
Caught with its pants down, Beijing did what it excels in: putting on an air of injured innocence and blaming the rest of the world for an “innocent” balloon that went astray. And in the first attempt at kite flying, China put out the word that the balloon in question was simply up there to study weather patterns—over where is what many wanted to know.
