Rep Hakeem Jeffries & Secretary Lloyd Austin praise Bidens China spy balloon response
Jeffries posted he is “Thankful to President Biden and the U.S. Military for putting the safety of the American people first.
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Chinese Spy Balloon Incident
On Saturday, February 24, 2023, the United States military shot down a Chinese spy balloon which had been hovering over sensitive military installations and making its way across the country for days.
Americans first became aware of the unfolding event when the spy balloon was spotted over Billings, Montana, on Wednesday. China’s Foreign Ministry claimed the balloon was a weather research airship that had been blown off course.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III announced “at the direction of President Biden, U.S. fighter aircraft assigned to U.S. Northern Command successfully brought down the high altitude surveillance balloon launched by and belonging to the People's Republic of China (PRC) over the water off the coast of South Carolina”.
A statement issued by the Chinese Embassy said "China strongly disapproves of and protests against the US attack on a civilian unmanned airship by force. The Chinese side has, after verification, repeatedly informed the US side of the civilian nature of the airship and conveyed that its entry into the US due to force majeure was totally unexpected. The Chinese side has clearly asked the US side to properly handle the matter in a calm, professional and restrained manner".
According to the Department of Defense, President Biden gave the go ahead to take down the surveillance balloon as early as Wednesday. However, “U.S. military commanders had determined downing the balloon while over land posed an undue risk to people across a wide area due to the size and altitude of the balloon and its surveillance payload”.
A growing chorus of Republican politicians had voiced concern over the slow response in taking action against the Chinese spy balloon incursion into the sovereign airspace of the United States. Noting that The U.S. first detected the balloon off the western coast of Alaska on Jan. 28, five days before acknowledging it publicly and seven days before shooting it down, according to Fox News.
However, Democratic House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries tweeted he is “Thankful to President Biden and the U.S. Military for putting the safety of the American people first. And then taking down the Chinese Communist Party’s surveillance balloon that unacceptably violated our air space”.
It is unclear why the Chinese spy balloon was allowed to fly through the U.S and not taken out sooner while it was over The Aleutian Islands. President Biden has said very little other than when he finally spoke on Saturday 2/4/23. saying "we're gonna take care of it".
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin concluded his official statement by saying "Today's deliberate and lawful action demonstrates that President Biden and his national security team will always put the safety and security of the American people first while responding effectively to the PRC's unacceptable violation of our sovereignty".