Biden: ‘If China Threatens Our Sovereignty, We Will Act to Protect Our Country’
A Chinese woman adjusts the Chinese national flag near U.S. national flags before a Strategic Dialogue expanded meeting that’s part of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, Thursday, July 10, 2014
InternationalIndiaAfricaOver the last week, a Chinese weather balloon enchanted American politicians and US intelligence officials who alleged that the device was a surveillance in nature. However, Chinese Foreign Ministry repeatedly stressed it was a civilian balloon meant for meteorological research. It was ultimately down over the weekend.US President Joe Biden remarked in his State of the Union address that should China threaten the nation, his administration will respond accordingly.“Make no mistake: as we made clear last week, if China’s threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country,” Biden vowed to the American public, in reference to the downed Chinese balloon that stole headlines over the last week. “And we did.” “Don’t bet against America,” he underscored, which prompted a chorus of “USA” chants. “It has never been a good bet to bet against America.”The American president stated that winning the competition with China should unite all Americans, and that the US is in the strongest position in decades to compete with Beijing or anyone else in the world.
AmericasOverreaction to Balloon ‘Snafu’ Shows US Incapable of Dialogue With China, Ex-Diplomat Says6 February, 22:43 GMTBiden’s comments in light of the downed Chinese weather balloon comes as US national security adviser Jake Sullivan relayed to reporters on Monday that the US has no intention of returning the instrument to the Chinese government.Speaking during the US Global Leadership Coalition summit, Sullivan admitted that Washington intends to “exploit what we recover and learn even more than we have learned.”In the lead-up to the US’ decision to shoot down the balloon, Biden recieved a wave of backlash as US officials blasted the commander-in-chief over their beliefs that he failed to act decisively enough. Biden later explained he chose to hold off on shooting down the balloon until it was over airspace that would cause no injuries to the wider public.The Chinese government has stated that US’ decision was a clear overreaction after authorities had informed the Biden White House that the balloon was not of a surveillance nature but of research purposes. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng on Monday reiterated that the downing was harmful for US-Chinese relations.
