Why Biden Delayed Shooting Down Chinese Balloon

Photo by Minku Kang on Unsplash

(TargetLiberty.org) On Sunday, Senator Cotton accused President Biden of delaying having the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon shot down in an attempt to “salvage” Sec. of State Blinken’s visit to China.

During an interview on Fox News Sunday, Cotton said that he thought this was clearly an attempt to “salvage the Secretary of State’s trip on Friday night.” Blinken had to postpone his trip to China over the incident, despite the fact that on Friday Evening he was supposed to make an official visit to Beijing. This visit was arranged following Biden’s and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s meeting during the Group of 20 summit in November.

Cotton has claimed that the balloon should have been brought down long before it invaded U.S. airspace. He added that the Biden administration would need to provide a lot of information and explanations regarding this incident to the American public.

The balloon first entered U.S. airspace on Jan. 28 in Alaska, as part of its course it flew over Canada and re-entered U.S. airspace three days later. According to U.S. defense officials, the balloon had been spotted flying over Montana on Wednesday.

Biden said that during the Wednesday briefing, he ordered for the balloon to be shot down “as soon as possible.” Military officials had to wait until the balloon could be brought down without endangering American lives. This is why the balloon was shot down over water on Saturday, in order to eliminate any risk of damage caused by the debris.

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