#Balloongate shows that Chinese messaging still has a ways to go to set the tone of global conversations, even on stories convcerning China directly. It also provides yet another example of Sino-Russian convergence in the information space. 
Significance of #balloongate took authorities by surprise. #ChineseFM's statement deploring US overreaction only came on Sunday and spokesperson still seemed thrown off by questions at today's press conference.
Seems like a lost opportunity as Chinese diplomatic & state media's accounts reactions to the incident generated very high engagement. 4 of 5 most shared tweets in the last week are about the incident.
Some diplomats repeated official protestations that portray China as aggrieved party whose research balloon was shot down by a US overreaction. But savvier wolf warriors humorously derided US military & technology.
Russian state media accounts mentioned "balloon" even more frequently than Chinese accounts in past 7 days. They supported the Chinese version of events & ridiculed Pentagon for "blowing things out of proportion."
To learn more about Chinese and Russian messaging on this and other topics, check out @SecureDemocracy's dashboard. @gmfus securingdemocracy.gmfus.org/hamilton-dashb…
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