Biden comments on Chinese lookout balloon: ‘More embarrassing than helpful | Wayne Dupree

In a statement last Saturday, Joe Biden claimed that Beijing’s intentions were not fully realized when a Chinese surveillance balloon spent a week circling the United States in early February. According to the president, Beijing was left more “embarrassed” than he expected. Before leaving for Philadelphia, Biden explained to reporters that he didn’t believe their leaders fully understood the current situation or what was in the ball. Although not necessarily intentional, the result was undoubtedly more embarrassing than expected.

So he said, “I expect that in the coming months I will meet [Chinese President] Xi [Jinping] again and talk about real disagreements that we have, but also how there are places where we can agree.

According to the New York Times, Antony Blinken arrived in China on Sunday, making history as the first secretary of state to visit there in the previous five years. He will meet Qin Gang, his counterpart.

Due to the spy balloon incident, his trip was originally scheduled to take place in February. The military shot down the balloon at high altitude off the coast of South Carolina after it circled the mainland United States for several days.

Beijing strongly criticized the decision to shoot down the balloon and pledged to take “lawful countermeasures against relevant U.S. companies that endanger China’s sovereignty and security” at the time.

Additionally, Republican senators slammed the Biden administration for allegedly failing to ‘address China’s brazen threats to American security and sovereignty’ and demanded that the administration provide a ‘public accounting’ of its analysis. of the Chinese spy balloon.