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I definitely agree that this distinction is useful, although frankly if the Chinese air force could pull off a strike with such precision that they could blow up the Dalai Lama’s house without hitting anything else around it, I’d have to just say “well played”. I’d be more mad at my own government for not being able to intercept it.
You might say that but I doubt the American government or indeed the American public would feel the same way. Media would report it as the only time the US mainland has ever been bombed and the first bombing of US territory since WWII. We would respond militarily, even if it was just a Doolittle-style raid to show we could do it.
I don't think the American public would really believe that a Chinese bomber could get into US airspace without being intercepted. The Americans are supposed to have the best air force in the world. If someone gets bombed by a stealth bomber in the the mainland USA, I think most people would rightly assume that the Americans must have done it (or allowed it).
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I don’t think it would certainly result in US military action against China. If they were willing to let the US save face and said it was an overzealous action by a rogue general and made trade concessions they might even get away with it.
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The media might well report it that way, but the US mainland was bombed (as in, from the air) in WWII.
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