“. . . One wonders how [New York Times reporter Sanger] can assert a lack of communication when the Chinese side insists with evidence that it in fact communicated a lot . As the Global Times writes:

The Chinese Foreign Ministry expressed strong dissatisfaction and protested against the US’ use of force to shoot down a Chinese civilian unmanned airship, urging the US to properly handle the incident.

The Chinese side has verified the situation and communicated with the US side multiple times, saying the unintended entry of the airship into US airspace was due to force majeure and the incident was totally an accident, the ministry said.

The Chinese foreign ministry asserts similar:

China strongly disapproves of and protests against the US attack on a civilian unmanned airship by force. The Chinese side has, after verification, repeatedly informed the US side of the civilian nature of the airship and conveyed that its entry into the US due to force majeure was totally unexpected. The Chinese side has clearly asked the US side to properly handle the matter in a calm, professional and restrained manner.

So China in fact had communicated with the U.S. and discussed the issue.

Its claim that the balloon went unexpectedly off course is, by the way, completely correct. The U.S. had long tracked the balloon over Alaska and Canada and was equally surprised when it suddenly turned south:

Another U.S. official said intelligence agencies began tracking the balloon several days ago, not long after it had left China and began its controlled drift toward the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. The official said American trackers continued to monitor the balloon as it progressed through Canada toward the continental United States, and were surprised when it crossed over into American airspace.

The cause of the surprising turn last week was a polar vortex over Canada that also brought a cold snap to the north-east:

We know the feeling when winter digs its heels in, and we get endless days below seasonal. When this happens, the jet stream becomes highly amplified with blocking mechanisms to trap the cold.”

The spy balloon story may make for great propaganda by the Biden administration but it would appear to be false. Why would China try to spy with easly tracked balloons that operate in the target’s air space when it has satellites safely in space orbit.