The Chinese balloon found hovering above Montana is the latest development in U.S. – China relations. Friday, the CCP’s foreign ministry spokesperson released the following statement:
The airship is from China. It is a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes. Affected by the Westerlies and with limited self-steering capability, the airship deviated far from its planned course. The Chinese side regrets the unintended entry of the airship into US airspace due to force majeure. The Chinese side will continue communicating with the US side and properly handle this unexpected situation caused by force majeure.
This is still a developing story, but there is a bigger picture to understand here.
The relations between the U.S. and China have been drastically different under Biden compared to President Trump.
Trump infamously started a trade war with China after what he viewed as unfair trade agreements from previous U.S. presidential administrations, in addition to intellectual property theft. Additionally, Trump’s expansion of U.S.-Taiwan relations directly went against China’s “One China Policy.”
Trump’s actions showed that the USA was strong, and bold enough to do what it felt was right instead of acting in fear of the CCP. It signaled to not only China, but the world that his version of America would be different, and that the Trump Administration was truly putting America First.
Since Joe Biden took office in January of 2021, America has become undeniably weaker on the world stage. The first major opening for other countries to begin pushing the limits of the United States, was the catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. Last November, it was revealed the CCP was operating a “police station” in New York City. On November 14th 2022, President Xi of China met with Biden at the G20 summit in Bali. In a stark contrast from the previous administration, Joe Biden revealed the U.S. does NOT support Taiwan independence. This signaled that under the Biden Administration, America would be submissive to China.
With that, you get a “weather balloon” (so they say) making its way into U.S. air space. A senior defense official revealed the U.S. has “very high confidence” that the balloon was flying over sensitive U.S. sites to collect information. In other words, not an innocently lost weather balloon. These conflicting reports illustrate once more the lack of trust between the two countries. At the very least, China did this as an intimidation tactic to the United States, which shows the world who has the upper hand. The more likely motive behind this will be revealed in time.
The smartest solution would be to shoot down or retrieve the balloon to avoid any further concerns that the American people may have. Unfortunately, it was announced that would not happen, furthering the world’s current view of the United States as weak.
This is the latest example of weakness and vulnerability from the United States on the world stage under Joe Biden. An innocent weather balloon? Or a foreshadowing threat of things to come? America needs strong leadership now more than ever. Pray that we get it, and soon.