Photo: Xinhua

US media suddenly broke the news on the 15th that two Chinese diplomats were secretly expelled by the US in September this year for spying. A source familiar with the matter told US media that the diplomats drove into a restricted military area in Virginia, until they were blocked by a fire truck with the wives of two diplomats in the car. US analysts believe that the two diplomats were not necessarily collecting intelligence from the base. They were more likely to test the security or send a signal to the US that Beijing intends to gather intelligence more forcefully.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang responded on Monday that the US accusations against Chinese personnel are seriously against the facts, and China has lodged solemn representations and protests with the US, demanding that the US correct its mistakes and revoke the decision. 

Any Chinese with a slight knowledge of foreign affairs would know this is another unjust case by the US. Why did the two diplomats take their wives with them to test the security of an American base that could be in danger? Is this the Chinese way of doing things? Do Westerners want their wives to sit beside them when doing dangerous intelligence work? 

In addition, the US and some Western countries are now endlessly hyping "China's intelligence threat." Beijing cannot even defend itself, why does it want to stir up trouble at this time and let the US side catch them on site?

Everyone who has lived in the US knows that there are large sparsely populated areas. Some places may be cordoned off as military bases, often with signs, but not all the land under the jurisdiction of the bases is off-limits to civilian vehicles. Many places are accessible to tourists. It is not a big deal for an outsider not familiar with the local situation to stray into a military base.

The US side seized on the incident, ignored China's explanation and took the situation to the worst possible direction. It was already too neurotic. Nowadays, every Chinese in the US is suspected to be a spy. Visiting scholars and international students are under suspicion. On the one hand, American society is very open, but on the other hand, the movement of Chinese in the open is suspected as a "spy." Isn't it against itself?

This happened in September this year, when it was dealt with in a low-key manner, and now the US has suddenly released it. One cannot help but associate it with the just-announced agreement between China and the US on the text of the phase one trade deal. We have reason to suspect that there are people in the US military and intelligence community, and even around the White House, who just don't want to see an easing of tensions between China and the US. They are putting this information out there to hedge against the political implications of a phase one deal and to reinforce tensions between the US and China.

The US has a very complicated bureaucracy in which ideology plays a role of threading the needle between institutions and functions. Now that it is politically correct to take a swipe at China in America, various small moves in this direction have become bolder and more audacious.

However, China is not a small country. If the US provokes China too much, China will inevitably launch countermeasures.