President Joe Biden defended his handling of the suspected Chinese spy balloon Monday. He said the situation has not affected the U.S. relationship with China.
When asked if the spy balloon weakened the relationship between the two countries, Biden told reporters that the United States was open with China about shooting the balloon down when it was over the Atlantic Ocean.
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“No. We’ve made it clear to China what we’re going to do. … We did the right thing,” Biden said. “There‘s not a question of weakening or strengthening — it’s just the reality.”
Asked whether the balloon incident has weakened U.S.-China relations, Pres. Biden says, “No. We’ve made it clear to China what we’re going to do…We did the right thing, and there‘s not a question of weakening or strengthening, it’s just the reality.” https://t.co/OIoUG0rjFe pic.twitter.com/9jvVP02NNm
— ABC News (@ABC) February 6, 2023
Navy vessels used cranes and divers to retrieve pieces of the balloon Monday. The suspected surveillance balloon was shot down by U.S. forces Saturday afternoon off the coast of South Carolina. It had been monitored by the Pentagon as it hovered over the U.S. for nearly a week prior.
Pentagon officials chose not to shoot down the balloon until it was over water, saying it was too dangerous to shoot it down over land and risk the danger of falling debris.
The FBI is expected to take custody of the pieces and ship them to its lab in Quantico, Virginia, for analysis, according to ABC News.
Other balloons have been spotted over other countries, including those in Latin America. Officials also claimed there were other Chinese balloons that had invaded U.S. airspace. Those invasions included some under former President Donald Trump. His administration has denied knowledge of the incidents.
“These balloons are all part of a [People’s Republic of China] fleet of balloons developed to conduct surveillance operations, which have also violated the sovereignty of other countries. These kinds of activities are often undertaken at the direction of the People’s Liberation Army or PLA,” a senior defense official told reporters Saturday.
“Over the past several years, Chinese balloons have previously been spotted over countries across five continents, including in East Asia, South Asia and Europe,” they added.
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A senior military official who briefed reporters said the debris was in a section of water about 47 feet deep and spread over a 7-mile radius.
