Beijing Spokesperson China Daily Accuses Biden of Overreacting to Spy Balloon Incident
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Chinese state media have accused the US of using the recent incident involving an alleged Chinese spy balloon as a political ploy to inflame tensions between Washington and Beijing.
Beijing spokesman China Daily made the sensational claim in a scathing editorial published on Wednesday, one that accused Joe Biden and his administration of having “overreacted” to the incident and used it to their advantage.
The article, titled Paranoia spurs China-bashers to dramatize Balloon Inc in a Hollywood blockbuster, points to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s planned visit to the country as evidence of this alleged ploy, along with its recent cancellation.
Blinken, who was scheduled to leave for Beijing on Friday, told a news conference that the high-altitude surveillance craft seen hovering over the continental United States near South Carolina “created conditions that undermine the purpose of the trip.” “.
Meanwhile, Beijing issued the following chilling statement in response, saying that it “reserves the right to provide further responses if necessary.”
Chinese state media have accused the US of using the recent incident involving an alleged Chinese spy balloon as a political ploy to inflame tensions between Washington and Beijing.
The article points to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s planned visit to the country as evidence of the alleged ploy, along with its recent cancellation.
“China has strongly protested the downing of its weather balloon that had strayed into US airspace,” the article’s first line reads, adding that the plane strayed into US airspace. “completely accidentally”.
The article goes on to reiterate Beijing’s official stance on the purpose of the South Carolina balloon, which is that it was used for meteorological purposes and that its entry into US airspace was unintentional.
“A US military fighter jet shot down the balloon off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday, a week after it first entered US airspace,” it read, before referring to the official response from the Department of Defense. Foreign Affairs of China to the incident.
China on Saturday night criticized Joe Biden’s decision to shoot down the plane as a “clear overreaction” and a “serious violation of international practice.”
On Saturday night, the agency criticized the US decision to shoot down the plane as a “clear overreaction” and a “serious violation of international practice.”
“China clearly asked the US to properly handle this in a calm, professional and moderate manner,” the article continued. “The United States has insisted on using force, obviously overreacting.”
The article went on to claim that the US “is using the incident to justify” the postponement of Blinken’s planned visit, stating that the balloon is “an excuse, not the cause of the postponement.”
“The real cause,” the article alleges, “is in the internal politics of the United States.”
Defense officials estimated the balloon was about the size of three buses at a height of 120 feet, and that the debris field would be considerable, estimated at seven miles when it was shot down off the South Carolina coast on Saturday.
The op-ed would go on to paint a picture of the alleged internal turmoil currently taking place in the US, which the Beijing-backed newspaper accuses is sparked by various bipartisan feuds.
To drive home this point, the Daily cited how Biden issued an order Wednesday to shoot down the balloon, when it was seen hovering over states like Montana, but that The United States finally decided to wait to shoot down the alleged spy craft until Saturday, when it was over the Atlantic, on the advice of the Pentagon.
An F-22 Raptor fighter jet fired a single AIM-9X missile to shoot down a Chinese spy balloon and its payload, which was equipped with cameras, sensors and radar.
Planes were seen flying close to the globe at around 1:30 p.m. after a source revealed that defense officials were planning a shoot-down and capture mission.
“Republican opponents in Congress still argue that he didn’t act fast enough,” the op-ed charges. “That reflects the struggle between the two parties, and how the public demonstrations of which party is tougher on China have become part of their enmity.”
It is this division, the article charges, along with the fomenting of possible US animosity, that has prevented “the world’s largest developed country from improving its relations with the world’s largest developing country.”
The piece goes on to state: ‘By promoting the balloon as a “mass surveillance balloon,” the US media has provided the excuse for political animosity toward China to intensify.
Meanwhile, he added, ‘the two parties are already jockeying for position with their sights set on the 2024 presidential election.
The article comes on the heels of the Beijing Foreign Ministry’s own disapproving response to Biden’s decision to shoot down the balloon: an act is The Foreign Office deemed it a ‘clear overreaction and a serious violation of international practice’.
“After verification, the Chinese side has repeatedly informed the US side about the civil nature of the aircraft and communicated that its entry into the US due to force majeure was totally unexpected,” the ministry said.
The Navy and Coast Guard are now working to secure a perimeter around the downed craft, as news broke overnight that three more Chinese spy balloons had entered US airspace during the Trump administration, but the public was never informed.
Beijing had already warned that the US decision to shoot down a Chinese spy balloon hovering over US nuclear silos was a “clear overreaction” and that it was bracing for “responses”.
“The Chinese side has clearly asked the US side to properly handle the matter in a calm, professional and restrained manner,” he added.
The US Department of Defense spokesman also noted that the balloon does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground.
“In such circumstances, the use of force by the United States is a clear overreaction and a serious violation of international practice.
“China will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the company concerned and reserves the right to provide further responses if necessary.”
An F-22 Raptor fighter jet shot down the balloon with a single AIM-9X sidewinder missile at 2:38 p.m. Saturday, off the coast of South Carolina.
The Navy and Coast Guard are now working to secure a perimeter around the downed craft, as news broke overnight that three more Chinese spy balloons had entered US airspace during the Trump administration, but the The public was never informed and the balloons were never shot down.
Republican leaders are now demanding the resignation of Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris over the latest incident.