Towards a costless war against China?

FIRST we had these several days of US media frenzy during which Americans were warned that they were under attack by a Chinese balloon or perhaps several of them.

“Bowing down before a floating intruder mere hours after it entered American airspace, the entire US nation reportedly surrendered on Friday to the Chinese balloon spotted hovering over Montana,” read the cover story of The Onion, the satirical and fake newspaper, which quoted “President Joe Biden” telling the Chinese: “You can have all our states, and all our protectorates” and adding, “I have told our military to stand down and I’d advise all 350 million Americans to do so, as well.”

And on more serious, although no-less-disturbing note, the (real) newspapers reported last week that the White House, concerned about China’s military and economic ambitions (which seems to be Washington’s 24/7 preoccupation these days), and perhaps impacted by the voyage of the Chinese spy balloon across the US, is now weighing yet another effort to restrict Chinese access to advanced technologies that could be used in war.