It all seems so simple: The Chinese could say, “We’re terribly sorry about our balloon going astray over Montana, it  won’t happen again.” Then Beijing and Washington could get on to the really vexing issues besetting Sino-American relations.

In fact, China did apologize — to Costa Rica — for a balloon adrift over that Central American country on the way to South American skies. It’s not likely, though, that the Chinese have considered such a gracious response as a way to resolve the hullabaloo over the “weather balloon” that now lies below the waters off the South Carolina coast.

Apparently, a hard line is in order for dealing with the Americans. Give us back our property, the Chinese are saying. Or, in the words of a spokeswoman, “The balloon does not belong to the U.S.” Menacingly, she vowed, “The Chinese government will continue to resolutely safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.”

Now that one balloon is down, though, China is going to have to deal with a lot of other reports of sightings in recent years. Three times during the Trump presidency, mysterious balloons reportedly were spotted in our skies. Observers in Taiwan and Japan are saying they think they’ve seen balloons overhead as well.

The balloon that divers are now recovering, shipping whatever they find to an FBI lab, was no doubt one of many with which the Chinese think they can see what their perceived foes are doing. The extent of their balloon program is not clear, but the episode has inspired hot air on both sides of the Pacific ranging from derision to indignation. 

While the Chinese blogosphere has been full of commentary, Chinese officials have been looking for ways to save face for having been caught in the act of violating our air space. The impression is they’re dreaming up pretexts to denounce the Americans just to cover up their embarrassment.

They persist in saying  the Americans were guilty of “overreaction” — as if, perhaps, we should have let the balloon come and go with the ease with which illegal immigrants cross our borders. The Chinese spokeswoman even accused the Americans of being “unprofessional.” The “armed attacks” — a reference to the single missile fired on the unmanned balloon by an Air Force F22 fighter — were “ unacceptable and irresponsible.”

The Chinese like to regard the intrusion into American airspace as something diplomats call force majeure, a term roughly meaning, “We made a mistake, now let’s forget about it.”  Yet what would the Chinese do if an American balloon or drone strayed into Chinese air space?

The Chinese media had another face-saving cover-up for why the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, canceled a visit to China during which he’d been expected to meet President Xi. The Americans had it all wrong, was the explanation. Because China had not yet announced Mr. Blinken was coming, what could be simpler than to say the trip was never officially agreed on?

While Navy divers were looking for the gear the balloon was carrying, the Chinese spokeswoman put the Americans on notice. The American response, she said, “tests the sincerity the U.S. has in improving and stabilizing bilateral relations.” 

The saga of the off-course flight won’t blow away, however,  if our side can pick up some interesting tidbits from the balloon’s high-tech surveillance gear. The English-language Global Times, published by People’s Daily, the organ of the Communist Party, tried hard to blame the Americans for the fallout. 

“Turning an accident caused by force majeure into a political farce highlights the US’ incompetence in dealing with crises,” the paper proclaimed. “The US’ rude handling of the balloon incident is a serious provocation that risks derailing China-US ties and it will eventually pay the price for its recklessness.”