Although the Chinese surveillance balloon that traversed the continental United States is no longer there, Joe Biden’s troubles from the botched national security operation persist.
According to Axios, the president’s staff is planning to “rewrite” the China-focused sections of his State of the Union speech, which is scheduled for Tuesday. That begs the issue of what Biden was intended to say in the first place.
Biden and his speechwriters are prepared to be nimble — and likely rewrite — the China sections of the speech, as officials weigh Beijing’s response to the U.S. military’s downing of the surveillance balloon after it drifted across North America.
The president’s challenge is a signal to Beijing that violating America’s airspace won’t be tolerated, while also convincing Americans — and skeptical Republicans — that he did enough to protect U.S. airspace. Biden said that on Wednesday he ordered the balloon to be shot down, and that national security officials thought it was safest to wait until it was over water.
Biden also wants to preserve his administration’s ability to cooperate with China on everything from the global economy to climate change.
Was Biden intending to brag about his ties with China prior to the spy balloon incident? That appears to be the meaning here, correct? There would be no point to alter anything if he was going to take a stance from the start.
You have to like the mention of Republicans as well. That, I suppose, is the true issue. Those obnoxious “skeptical Republicans.” It couldn’t be that Biden’s handling of the matter was inadequate, sending a message to Beijing that breaches into US airspace would be permitted. And, if Biden did, in fact, order the balloon to be shot down on Wednesday but did not press his subordinates to carry out the order promptly, it is not a display of power. Who is the real power behind the scenes at the White House?
The last section of that excerpt, though, is telling. In the end, Biden and his allies (such as climate envoy John Kerry) are only interested in spending your money and limiting your rights to combat “climate change.” The president has given the Chicoms so much flexibility on national security because he doesn’t want to jeopardize whatever ludicrous agreement he’s hammering up with Xi Jinping’s regime. Of course, China will never fulfill such a pact, but the purpose is to do a victory lap and say he saved the globe. Not the outcome.
The Biden administration’s relationship with China is far too intimate, and a little strong rhetoric while continuing to negotiate behind closed doors won’t change that. We should all be concerned by the president’s apparent influence on Gen. Mark Milley, who has a long history of China fluffing. Something doesn’t feel right about how this all transpired.