As the obsession with the Chinese spy balloon currently traversing the U.S. mainland continues, from various shark-jumping reports to discussions about nuclear bombs and electromagnetic pulse (EMP) capability, the salient question is more fundamental: Why is China doing “it” in the first place?

Whatever “it” is, social media keyboard warriors have run wild (I know; try to contain your shock and amazement), calling for the immediate downing of the massive balloon, and valid points about the embarrassing and dangerous weakness of Joe Biden as his equally feckless administration on the world stage. Meanwhile, the balloon floats on.

Gordon Chang, a noted expert on U.S.-China relations and Fox News contributor shared a grim assessment of why he believes China sent the balloon across the U.S. The author of “The Coming Collapse of China” chillingly told Fox Digital:

China is preparing to go to war. It’s engaged in extremely provocative and dangerous activities around its periphery and war could come at any time and at any place.

“We know what the Chinese are doing,” Chang explained.

They’re engaged in the fastest military buildup since the Second World War. They’re trying to sanctions-proof their regime and most ominously they’re preparing China’s civilians for war.

It’s my belief that China is also testing the resolve of not only “Sino Joe” and his administration, but also that of the American public. Why else would Xi Jinping commit such a brazen act, knowing the balloon would be discovered (U.S. sources have tracked the balloon at least since it flew over or near the Aleutian Islands) as well as its origin?

In addition, Chang pointed to a strategic move by Xi shortly after he was appointed to his precedent-breaking third term as General Secretary at the National Congress in October when he appointed what is being referred to as the “war cabinet.”

The United States is so much more powerful than China from almost every perspective and yet the Chinese don’t view it this way. The Chinese view that they can do whatever they want because we have told them that they can do that.

The Chinese have engaged in a number of activities that violate our sovereignty, and some of those activities constitute acts of war and we did not respond. And it’s not just not responding in February 2023, it’s not responding over the course of decades. So, of course, the Chinese have this mentality right now. We have created the conditions for history’s next great war.

Note: Chang’s “we” reference was to the U.S. — not China. Meanwhile, Joe Biden fiddles.

So what has China learned?

The spy balloon is the only the latest — yet most brazen — act of Chinese aggression. From Taiwan to the South China Sea and across the globe, the ChiComs have created an atmosphere in which they don’t fear repercussions — particularly from the United States. And why should they? Biden scoffs at the notion of China “eating our lunch,” refers to his “good friend Xi Jinping,” and presides over a federal government now more interested in gender, self-proscribed pronouns, “equity,” and so-called “critical race theory.”

I’ve often envisioned Xi and Putin laughing hysterically on a secure line every time Biden goes Biden. Tell me you haven’t done so, as well. Xi and Putin have to wonder what’s wrong with this country, as it relates to the country that the left has desperately tried to destroy and continues to do so.

Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder at the Pentagon on Friday provided scant information on the balloon, most of which he called “classified.”

The United States government has detected and is tracking a high-altitude surveillance balloon that is over the continental United States right now. The U.S. government, [including] NORAD, continues to track and monitor it closely.

The balloon is currently traveling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic and does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground. Instances of this kind of balloon activity have been observed previously over the past several years.

Once the balloon was detected, the U.S. government acted immediately to protect against the collection of sensitive information.

While “instances of this kind of balloon activity have been observed previously,” I’m not aware of any Chinese balloons previously traversing the United States, General Ryder, am I missing something? No.

As reported by CBS News on Friday, a Chinese balloon has never been over the middle of the country before. The only other time a Chinese balloon has flown over the continental U.S. was during a brief overflight of Florida. There have been overflights of Hawaii and Guam. In previous instances, the Chinese have been able to recover the balloon.

The above raises an important strategic question for the Biden administration. Why would the U.S. not down the balloon, and show proof to the world that China’s ridiculous claim that the balloon is a “civilian airship,” used mainly for weather research, deviated from its planned course?

Now that’s an interesting question for Sino Joe. Moreover, I wonder what Hunter thinks about the balloon.