Drifting over parts of the United States at 50,000 feet, including over U.S. nuclear silos in Montana, an unidentified Chinese Foreign Object raised red flags in the Pentagon, not buying the Chinese Communist Party [CCP] explanation that the massive object was monitoring weather patterns. President Joe Biden, 80, was informed Feb. 1, deciding to let the UFO continue what the Chinese government said was an aimless path, concluding that it couldn’t pick up significant intel. When the so called mammoth balloon, two school buses in length and girth, drifted over Montan’s Malmstrom Air Force Base housing nuclear warheads, 69-year-old Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and 64-year-old Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Miley took notice. Austin and Miley cautioned Biden about shooting down the spy balloon, fearing the debris field could endanger U.S. citizens.
U.S.-Chinese relations have been at lowest level in decades, cautioning Biden about taking any aggressive action. Biden infuriated 69-year-old Chinese President Xi Jinping Sept. 23, 2022 saying he would defend Taiwan with U.S. troops in the event China tried to seize the democratic island of 40 million by force. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, 60, postponed his trip to Beijing, calling Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Li to reschedule. Chinese officials insisted the airship was a weather balloon, accidentally drifting out of its trajectory due to the Jet Stream. Hard to imagine after flying over Montana heading eastbound, there’s much population to be concerned about should the Pentagon decide to shoot down the balloon. U.S. officials, speaking anonymously, said the Pentagon wanted to keep communication lines open without shooting down the spy ship.
Talking about the balloon’s limited navigation undermine the fact that the balloon continues to track its way into the Midwest, also home to several military bases. “The idea that Communist China has a spy balloon headed towards Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri right now—the home of the Stealth Bomber—is absolutely unbelievable,” said Sen. Eric Schmidt (R-Mo.). “No American should accept this. I don’t,” said Schmidt, encouraging Biden to shoot it down. Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, refuses to say whether there were any plans to shoot down the Chinese spy ship. Ryder said he didn’t think the balloon posed a threat to U.S. national security. If the U.S. pulled the same stunt over Beijing, the CCP wouldn’t hesitate one second to shoot it down. Doing nothing sends a strong message to Beijing about the extent of Biden’s and Pentagon’s hesitancy.
No one believes the CCP explanation of a weather balloon gone adrift because of the Jet Stream. Traveling from the Peoples Republic of China, the balloon had plenty of random drift to veer away from the U.S. mainland. China’s account of wind patters AKA the Westerlies was entirely feasible to Dan Jaffe, professor of atmospheric chemistry at the University of Washington. Jaffe doesn’t know the extent of the GPS navigational system on the behemoth spy ship, now heading toward other strategic U.S. military bases. White House officials are flummoxed over what to do, knowing that diplomatic relations with China are near the breaking point over Taiwan among other things. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierred said that “the presence of this balloon in our air space . . . is a clear violation of our sovereignty as well as international law and it is unacceptable this occurred.”
Blinken and Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman both protested to a top Chinese embassy official Wednesday, one day before the White House went public with the event. Blinken and Sherman hoped that the spy ship incident would open up discussions about Taiwan, human rights, China’s claims in the South China Sea, North Korea, Russia’s War in Ukraine, trade policy and climate. How could Blinken think that the U.S. has leverage on Beijing to discuss anything other than why Beijing sent an unlawful spy ship over the United States? Whatever other issues exist with Beijing, they’re not going to be salvaged because the U.S. didn’t shoot down the Chinese spy balloon. China wants the U.S. to stop meddling in its internal affairs especially over Taiwan and what happens in the South China Sea. Blinken already provoked Beijing over human right abuses.
Failing to shoot down the Chinese spy ship speaks volumes about the current state of diplomacy with Communist China. Biden brought the two nations to near blows over violating the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, requiring the U.S. to recognize only one China, the one in Beijing, but, more importantly, end the 1954 Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty. Biden told Xi he would defend Taiwan with U.S. troops. What kind of world does Blinken live in thinking the Chinese weather balloon has anything to do with the Ukraine War? Failing to act on the spy ship tells the CCP all they need to know under Biden’s leadership: That the U.S. is bluffing about military action. Former President Donald Trump, 76, has said repeatedly that foreign adversaries do not respect Biden. When it comes to a Chinese spy ship, Biden had only one appropriate option, to shoot down the Unknown Chinese spy ship.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
