The Hamilton Spectator

Balloon bickering over Biden’s actions, China’s intentions

Senate to be briefed on balloon and its surveillan­ce capabiliti­es

- CHRIS MEGERIAN

Republican lawmakers on Sunday accused China of deliberate­ly surveillin­g sensitive U.S. military sites with a suspected spy balloon and said the Biden administra­tion had given Beijing an intelligen­ce opening by not downing the balloon during its high-altitude drift through American airspace.

The balloon’s presence in the sky above the United States before a military jet shot it down over the Atlantic Ocean with a missile Saturday further strained U.S.-China ties. America’s top diplomat abruptly scrapped a trip to Beijing and China’s defence ministry said in a statement after the balloon fell into the waters off the Carolina coast that it “reserves the right to take necessary measures to deal with similar situations.”

“Clearly this was an attempt by China to gather informatio­n, to defeat our command and control of our sensitive missile defence and nuclear weapon sites,” said the chair of the House Intelligen­ce Committee, Rep. Mike Turner, among the members of Congress on the Sunday news shows. “And that certainly is an urgency that this administra­tion does not recognize.”

U.S. defence and military officials said the balloon entered the U.S. air defence zone north of the Aleutian Islands on Jan. 28 and moved largely over land across Alaska and then into Canadian airspace in the Northwest Territorie­s on Monday. It crossed back into U.S. territory over northern Idaho on Tuesday, the day the White House said U.S. President Joe Biden was first briefed on it.

“It defies belief to suggest there was nowhere” between Alaska and the Carolinas where the U.S. could have safely shot down the balloon, said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the full Senate will get a briefing next week on the balloon, including details about its surveillan­ce capabiliti­es, and that the administra­tion is considerin­g measures against the Chinese for “their brazen activities.”

He said the GOP criticism was political and premature, and that the U.S. had “sent a clear message to China that this is not acceptable.”

Biden issued the shootdown order but had wanted it to happen earlier, on Wednesday. He was advised that the best time for the operation would be when it was over water, U.S. officials said. Military officials determined that bringing down the balloon over land would pose an undue risk to people on the ground.

“The message they (the Chinese) were trying to send is what they believe internally, and that is that the United States is a once great superpower that’s hollowed out, that’s in decline,” said Republican Sen. Marco Rubio vice chair of the Senate Intelligen­ce Committee. “And the message they’re trying to send the world is, ‘Look, these guys can’t even do anything about a balloon flying over U.S. airspace. How can you possibly count on them if something were to happen in the Indo-Pacific region?’ ”

By Wednesday the balloon was over Montana, home to Malmstrom Air Force Base, which has fields of nuclear missile silos.

The Chinese “didn’t go and look at the Grand Canyon,” Turner said. “They went and looked at our nuclear weapon sites and the missile defence sites throughout the country.”

‘‘ Clearly this was an attempt by China to gather informatio­n, to defeat our command and control of our sensitive missile defence and nuclear weapon sites.

MIKE TURNER CHAIR OF THE HOUSE INTELLIGEN­CE COMMITTEE

 ?? CHAD FISH THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ?? A large balloon drifts above the Atlantic Ocean, just off the coast of South Carolina, with a fighter jet and its contrail seen below it. The balloon was struck by a missile from an F-22 fighter just off Myrtle Beach.
CHAD FISH THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A large balloon drifts above the Atlantic Ocean, just off the coast of South Carolina, with a fighter jet and its contrail seen below it. The balloon was struck by a missile from an F-22 fighter just off Myrtle Beach.

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