The President of the United States, Joe Biden, appeared for the first time this Thursday to speak about the Chinese balloon and the unidentified objects shot down over the airspace by American warplanes. There is no evidence that the three objects shot down over the past week have any links to China, he admitted. They appeared to be commercial, recreational, or scientific in nature. But he made it clear: “If an object threatens the safety of the American people, I will shoot it down.”
Simultaneously with this message of determination, Biden has extended his hand to engage in dialogue with China. As he has said since the beginning of his presidency, he has reinforced the message that he wants competition, not conflict, between the two superpowers. “We are not looking for a new Cold War, but I make no apologies. I do not apologize and we will compete and we will manage this competition responsibly so that it does not lead to conflict,” he said in his message on bilateral relations.
According to Biden, this episode underscores the importance of keeping lines of communication open between diplomats and the military of both countries. “Our diplomats will continue to speak and I will continue to communicate with President Xi. I am grateful for the work of our intelligence, diplomatic and military experts over the past few weeks,” he said. He has promised to update Congress and allies, leaving an undated roadmap: “I hope with President Xi and I hope we get to the bottom of the problem, but I don’t apologize for crashing that balloon.” he concluded.
In his State of the Union address, without specifically addressing the balloon that crossed the country from Montana to South Carolina, Biden warned his strategic rival, “If China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country.” called. “I made it clear to President Xi [Jinping] that we seek competition, not conflict. I will not apologize for investing to make America strong, for investing in American innovations, in industries that will define the future that the Chinese government is trying to dominate,” he also said.
To date, however, Biden has remained silent about the objects shot down over the past week, despite the military response they provoked. After the appearance of the Chinese balloon equipped with antennas, to which Washington attributed spying purposes from the start (which Beijing denies), the United States adjusted the parameters of its radars. It’s usually difficult to spot slow-moving objects at high altitude, but with these filter changes, several unidentified flying objects have emerged over the past week (in Alaska, Canada’s Yukon region, and over Lake Huron) between last Friday were shot down and Sunday.
The crashed object came down over US territorial waters off northern Alaska on Friday and was largely frozen in the dead of winter. The one on Saturday in a remote and rugged area of northwestern Canada. And the remains of the man killed on Sunday are said to have sunk in the depths of Lake Huron. The fighter firing at this last seemingly octagonal object failed to fire its first missile.
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Biden started talking about her this Thursday. He has conceded that there is no evidence these objects have any links to China or any other intelligence agencies. “We know that a number of entities, including countries, companies and research organizations, operate with high-altitude objects for non-malicious purposes, including legitimate scientific research. I want to clarify that we have no evidence that the number of objects in the sky suddenly increased. We’re just seeing more now than partly because of the actions we’ve taken to adapt our radars,” he explained.
Perhaps aware that this spectacle of a daily hunt and shooting down of unidentified flying objects was unsustainable, he ordered his team to provide him with more detailed regulations on how to deal with these unidentified objects in the future, distinguishing what may pose security risks, that require action and those that do not. In this regard, he said: “But make no mistake, if an object poses a threat to the security of the American people, I will shoot it down.”
A four step plan
The President of the United States has announced four types of measures to address the flying object challenge. First, a more accessible and up-to-date inventory of unmanned aerial vehicles over US airspace needs to be established. Second, the United States will take new measures to improve its ability to detect objects in its airspace. Third, the rules and regulations for launching and maintaining unmanned objects in your sky are reviewed. And fourth, it will promote common standards worldwide in this largely unregulated space. “These steps will result in safer skies for our air travelers, our military, our scientists and also for the people on the ground,” Biden said.
Of last week’s objects, the remains of all or some of them may not be recovered and what they were may not be known. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby has previously announced that there is no evidence the objects are Chinese or intelligence or spy artifacts from any other foreign power. He also ruled out that they were extraterrestrial in origin. Kirby explained that the objects did not have their own propulsion, but swayed in the wind at high altitude. They also apparently had no monitoring or communication mechanisms.
“The possibility that these are balloons simply associated with commercial or research facilities and are therefore benign is not ruled out. That could very well be a major explanation here, or it could turn out to be,” Kirby said Tuesday, consistent with Biden’s statement on Thursday. There are also no certainties, he admitted.
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