Republicans attack Biden for waiting to shoot down Chinese balloon
- The US shot down a Chinese balloon after it floated across the United States for days, further straining ties with Beijing
- Balloon incident sparked fiery debate over Biden’s dealing with the matter and how US-Chinese ties might suffer
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Suspected Chinese balloon shot down by US military
A US Air Force fighter jet on Saturday shot down the balloon off the coast of South Carolina, a week after it first entered US airspace near Alaska, triggering a dramatic spying saga that has further strained American-Chinese relations.
“We should have shot this balloon down over the Aleutian Islands. We should never have allowed it to transit the entire continental United States,” said Republican Senator Tom Cotton, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, referring to the chain of small islands that arc off the coast of mainland Alaska.
Cotton told the Fox News Sunday television programme that he believed Biden had waited to disclose the penetration of US airspace because he wanted to salvage Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s planned diplomatic trip to Beijing, which ultimately was postponed.
“I think part of it is the president’s reluctance to take any action that would be viewed as provocative or confrontational towards the Chinese communists,” Cotton added.
