If the US air force did in fact just spent millions of dollars shooting down American party balloons, it wouldn’t be the Chinese who are humiliated.
US war planes have shot down three unidentified objects in North American airspace over the last three days, which is entirely without precedent.
The only reason we hear the word “unprovoked” every time anyone mentions Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is because it absolutely was provoked.
You can even invade a country on the other side of the world and then claim you are defending yourself when they try to throw you out.