https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/chinese-balloon-xi-jinpings-big-mistake-revealed/TQ2GZBF6FBBFBPHFCLZJT4UQLY/

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has made a “deep mistake” with Beijing’s spy balloon saga, a former head of the UK’s Secret Intelligence Service says.

Sir Alex Younger, the former head of Britain’s spy agency, told the BBC that China’s assumption of how the US would react to surveillance balloons being sent across its territory “wasn’t properly thought through”.

He added that should US parts be found in the balloons, four of which have now been shot down, it would further encourage Washington DC to restrict China’s access to advanced technology.

And he said the growing diplomatic and military crisis potentially revealed China’s “manifest hypocrisy,” just as Beijing attempts to coax nations out of the US’ orbit and into its own.

前英国秘密情报局负责人称，中国国家主席习近平在北京间谍气球事件上犯了一个”严重错误”。

英国前间谍机构负责人亚历克斯·杨格爵士(Sir Alex Younger)对BBC表示，中国关于美国对被派往其领土的监视气球做出何种反应的假设”没有好好考虑”。

他还说，如果在气球中发现美国部件，其中四个已被击落，这将进一步鼓励华盛顿特区限制中国获得先进技术。

他说，日益严重的外交和军事危机可能暴露出中国的”明显的虚伪”，正如北京试图哄骗各国脱离美国的轨道，进入自己的轨道。