The United States military's downing of a Chinese meteorological balloon off the South Carolina coast was a remarkable example of how an otherwise insignificant incident can be blown up to be a dangerously damaging one between two countries in the absence of mutual trust.

It is regrettable that what the Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed was a wayward Chinese meteorological balloon has been transformed into "a spying tool" in the eyes of the US media and Defense Department. Especially, as the incident is believed to have resulted in Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponing a scheduled visit to Beijing, which carried high hopes for patching up frayed bilateral ties.

Following years of unpleasant exchanges, China-US relations have become so fragile that crisis control is now a constant priority on the agendas of both countries' diplomatic and security establishments.

The hyping up of the "spy balloon" incident into a threat to US sovereignty has clearly exposed the worrying turn in American feelings about China over the past few years. Despite US President Joe Biden issuing the order for the balloon to be taken down and declaring in his State of the Union address on Tuesday that "if China threatens our sovereignty we will act to protect our country", his Republican opponents have launched more fierce attacks on the White House's China policy, accusing Biden of being soft on China. To them, dispatching F-22 fighter jets to shoot down a weather balloon and suspending a high-stakes diplomatic meeting is still a sign of weakness. They wanted the US president to shout out louder against China in a speech that, as its name suggests, is supposed to focus primarily on how the US is faring at home.

The Biden administration is in no way befriending China. It has openly identified China as the US' foremost rival. Most noticeably, it is reviving old alliances and partnerships and formulating new ones surrounding the single goal of "competition" with China.

Nonetheless, fortunately, it remains aware that the two countries can't afford entering into the kind of confrontation that Washington's China hawks want.

Asked if the balloon issue had caused major damage to China-US relations, the US president said on Wednesday, "No". It is reassuring to hear Biden reiterate that his administration is "not looking for conflict". It would be in both sides' interests if the US could remain clear-headed about the dire consequences of its confrontational approaches to its relations with China. China and the US need each other's cooperation in many ways on many issues. Like it or not, they are interdependent in more ways than they are willing to concede or may be comfortable with.

Just as US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told reporters on Wednesday, it is important to improve communication between the two countries on economic issues. But macroeconomic and financial issues are just some of the topics they need to discuss.