Posted on 02/05/2023 10:13:14 AM PST by FarCenter
WASHINGTON – China on Sunday protested against Washington’s decision to shoot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon over North America, accusing the United States of overreacting and warning that it reserves the right to take retaliatory measures.
But with bipartisan consensus in the US foreign and national security establishments regarding China as an existential threat, it was long clear that President Joe Biden did not have any choice but to shoot the balloon down.
Shooting it down safely gave Mr Biden a chance to look confident and in charge, in the face of a chorus from China hawks in Congress.
Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, who is the highest ranking Democrat on a new House China committee, told CNN that the balloon was a reminder that the Communist Party of China was “committing surveillance and violations of our own national sovereignty”.
He added: “Probably there were actors within the Chinese Communist Party who continued with their aggressive surveillance, and it’s not even clear whether the left and the right hands knew what the other was doing.”
Questions have arisen over the timing of the balloon’s flight, when Secretary of State Antony Blinken was about to travel to Beijing, a trip meant to restore diplomatic momentum following the meeting of Mr Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Bali in November.
Both leaders had agreed to resume normal diplomacy suspended by China in the wake of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August.
The incident scuppered Mr Blinken’s trip, with Washington saying it would not be appropriate for him to travel to Beijing for meetings at this time.
Experts had hoped that the visit by Mr Blinken would put a floor under the bilateral relationship and prevent ties from deteriorating further.
(Excerpt) Read more at straitstimes.com ...
Who provided the pictures of this missile explosion? Did it come from “Government Sources”?
If it was the other way around Beijing would have declared “WAR” , again
if they dont want it shot down- keep it out of our airspace- pretty simple-
I would have to agree - it’s stupid to shoot it down after it’s already done it’s dirty work and leaving the airspace
It was all for show. It’s Biden vs Corn Pop all over again.
I’m wondering if these pictures exist of the explosion, where is the footage of the wreckage hitting the water?
They effed around and found out. 😆
Sending it here was somewhat worse.
So where did it land and what was its payload?
well, since it was prolly sending in real time, shooting it down after it’s mission was accomplished is all theater...
unless they think there’s some secret technology they want to retrieve which is questionable
I am sure the balloon was only gathering data to study climate change.
I am sure the balloon was only gathering data to study climate change.
I agree. Using a sidewinder as your first shot is a bit over kill. Start by testing one of the new laser systems. See what it can do first. Might even be able to bring it down gentle enough to salvage and gain further intell.
The balloon had already traversed the entire nation and was leaving the country . . . they had all they could get and shooting it down was just sitting duck, target practice
Because the CCP would not get at all upset if the US started floating spy balloons over China.
Was the attack on Pearl Harbor, a surprise?
Who provided these pictures?
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