Monitoring Desk
WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden said Thursday that he would talk to Chinese President Xi Jinping in the wake of the US shooting down a Chinese balloon on February 4.
The US President said, “I expect to be talking with Chinese President over the matter,”. He said that the US is not looking for another cold war. Joe Biden says, “I make no regrets for taking that down suspected balloon.” He added that they will always work to secure the interests of Americans and the security of the US citizens.
US-China ties
The US has been in a state of alarm since a white balloon was spotted in the country. In the wake of the incident, the United States forces adjusted radar settings to notice more objects and promptly found three more unidentified objects that President Biden ordered shot down. The US shot down one object on Alaska, another on Canada and the third one on Lake Huron off Michigan.
However, Beijing says the balloon was just a lost weather research craft, but US authorities claim they have concrete evidence that the suspected balloon was sent to spy.
The incident has triggered a diplomatic rift, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken abruptly canceling a visit to Beijing. China accused the US of overreacting over the matter and said that US balloons had also overflown Chinese territory, something Washington denies.
Biden said that they don’t yet know exactly what these three objects were, while ruling out Beijing involvement — and suggesting they could be civilian object of some kind. He further said that the intelligence assessment is that the 3 objects are likely balloons knotted to private companies and research projects. He said that he will take it down if any object presents a threat to the people of America.
Earlier, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said that China and the US have not “stopped communicating” with each other.
