Spy Balloon or Sputnik Moment: A Comparative Analysis of Public Opinion in China and the United States

Examining the perceptual differences between China and the United States can facilitate a better understanding of their opinions and perspectives, helping to promote peaceful interactions among the two nations as well as the world. This study presents a data-driven approach to measure cognitive differences, investigating these differences from topical and sentimental angles regarding the unmanned balloon event that had been shot down by U.S. warplanes. We also explore the cognitive differences between news media and the followers, and the evolution of topics over time. Our findings reveal those discussions about “balloons” on social media in China and the United States display certain differences in terms of sentiment. In addition, we assess the impact of this event on U.S.–China relationship, particularly in trade. To evaluate the analytical capabilities of the popular ChatGPT model, we use this event as a case study to demonstrate that ChatGPT-like models may have limited capabilities for such kind of specialized analysis. The dataset utilized here is made available for public usage for further investigation on public opinion dynamics for similar events.