The Chinese balloon shot down by the American army following flying over the United States for several days fueled the political battle in the United States on Sunday, with Republicans accusing President Joe Biden of not having had a faster and firmer response.
“As always, when it comes to national security and foreign policy, the Biden administration has responded too indecisively at first, then too late,” said Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.
“We should not have let the People’s Republic of China ridicule our airspace,” he said in a statement, calling the case a “missed opportunity” to defend American “sovereignty”.
The American army shot down on Saturday, off the coast of South Carolina, in the south-east of the country, this Chinese balloon considered by the Pentagon as a spy balloon, intended to collect sensitive information.
The incident sparked a diplomatic crisis between Beijing and Washington with the last-minute cancellation of a visit to China by US Foreign Minister Antony Blinken.
Beijing, which maintains that it was a civilian aircraft, accused the United States of having “overreacted” by using force, and said it “reserves the right” to respond.
– Recovery at sea –
Mr Biden said he gave the order on Wednesday to shoot down the balloon “as soon as possible”, but that the Pentagon wanted to wait until it was over the sea to do so, in order to avoid any damage to the ground during the fallout. of debris.
“Downing the balloon over the water was not only the safest option, but also the one that maximized the information gathered” by recovering the remains of the craft, the leader of the Democrats told Sunday. Senate, Chuck Schumer. This will “analyze the technology used by the Chinese army”.
Recovery operations were launched as early as Saturday, with the plume of debris extending for around 11 kilometres.
Mr. Schumer assured that the Biden administration was considering “further actions once morest China”, and announced a closed-door briefing on the case, for all senators, on February 15.
He called the Republicans’ attacks “premature” and “politically motivated” two days before Joe Biden’s big State of the Union address to Congress.
But the Republicans did not hold back.
“Having the president shoot him down over the Atlantic is a bit like tackling the quarterback following the game is over,” Republican lawmaker Mike Turner, chairman of the commission on NBC, lamented Sunday morning on NBC. intelligence of the House of Representatives. The balloon “should never have been able to enter the United States, and complete its mission”, he added.
“Why did it take so long to reveal it to the Americans?” Republican Senator Marco Rubio, deputy chairman of the US Senate Intelligence Committee, asked him on CNN. The government “didn’t want to be forced to cancel (Antony) Blinken’s visit, so they didn’t want to talk regarding it,” he charged.
According to him, the ball was used by China to demonstrate that it had “the ability to do this”, without the United States being able to “do anything once morest it”.
– Long journey –
Former US Chief of Staff Mike Mullen, asked by ABC regarding the possibility that elements within the Chinese military may have wanted to derail Mr. Blinken’s visit, said: “Clearly, I think that is the case”.
He rejected the Chinese version according to which the ball would have deviated from its trajectory under the effect of the winds. “It wasn’t an accident, it was deliberate,” he said.
The balloon entered American airspace for the first time on January 28, north of the Aleutian Islands (Alaska). He then entered Canadian airspace on January 30, then returned to the American side, at Idaho in the northwestern United States, on January 31, or Tuesday.
The general public only learned of its existence on Thursday, when it was over Montana. He then continued his journey eastward until he reached the Atlantic coast.
“It defies belief to suggest that there was nowhere between the Aleutian Islands of Alaska and the coast of Carolina where this balloon might have been shot down without endangering Americans or Canadians.” , said Mitch McConnell.
Colombia announced this weekend that a balloon had flown over its territory, before leaving its airspace. She said to carry out “checks (…) to establish the origin of the object”.
On Friday, the Pentagon said a second Chinese balloon was spotted flying over Latin America.