Basically if you want to get revoted into office again, just do/say anything that is anti-China?
Mass media propaganda distills hate/fear of China/Chinese for views and clicks or hidden agenda --> governments have no choice but to do what their voters "want" --> stuff like this happens --> get re-elected?
As I've gotten older, one of things I learned is just how powerful the media is. Once the media decides on a direction, it becomes an unstoppable rolling stone. So much of our bias is influenced by the mass media without us knowing it. I guess this is why propaganda is so powerful.
For example, the media makes a big deal of the Chinese balloons but we have military bases surrounding China, and our aircraft carriers routinely pass through waters close to China. What if China has military bases in the Caribbean and Mexico? What if China's aircraft carriers patrol the seas near New York or California? Why is the US allowed to do this but China can't? Has the propaganda gotten so powerful that the US thinks China is evil and US is benevolent?