Key Takeaways:
- US President Joe Biden has claimed US-China relations haven't deteriorated
- Earlier this week, Washington shot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon off the US Coast
- Several critics have accused Biden of being too soft on Beijing
YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — US President Joe Biden is not half as tough on Beijing as most of his adversaries would want him to be. After he angered Republicans in his State of the Union address, he has more positive sentiments to express about the Asian adversary. Earlier this week, he drew criticism for saying that he is “committed to working with China“. Now, he has claimed that US-China relations remain unhurt despite the diplomatic storm that erupted involving the alleged Chinese spy balloon.
“Look, I mean, the idea shooting down a balloon that’s gathering information over America and that makes relations worse?”
Biden said, disagreeing with the idea that the incident had made the already bad US-China relations even worse.
Less than a week back, the Biden Administration ordered the US Air Force to shoot down an air balloon seen in the US airspace. The Pentagon had claimed that the semi-manned vehicle was collecting confidential information for Beijing.
After an F-22 fighter jet of the US Air Force fired a single missile (an AIM-9X Sidewinder) and brought the Chinese spy balloon down, Beijing threatened the US with retaliation.
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The fallout between US-China deepens
Although President Biden would like to underplay it, the entire spy balloon fiasco has forced Beijing to trust Washington even less.
The US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken canceled his scheduled trip to China last Friday. He sighted the alleged spy balloon for his decision and is yet to announce a new date for his visit.
The Biden Administration also turned down Beijing’s request to return the debris of the ballon to China. The US Navy and Coastguard salvaged the remains of the balloon off the coast of South Carolina. However, President Biden made it clear that the debris will remain in Washington.
US intelligence teams are working to extract any information they can to determine if the alleged spy balloon has gathered any sensitive information that could pose a national security threat.
Angered by the “clear overreaction and a serious violation of international practice”, Beijing refused Pentagon’s request for a phone call between US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe.
But Joe Biden still has loads of love left for China.
“Look, I made it real clear to Xi Jinping that we’re going to compete fully with China, but we’re not looking for conflict. And that’s been the case so far,”
he told reporters.
The Biden Administration‘s reluctance to show some teeth to Beijing will not go down well with its critics. From agreeing to work with China to wanting good relations with Xi Jinping, it is no wonder Republicans call him a “national security threat“.
