The US does not desire conflict with China, 'so far': Biden

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
9 Feb 10:24

The US President says his country will fully compete with China while sticking to the "no conflict" policy.

US President Joe Biden during his GOP union address on Tuesday, February 7, 2023 (EPA)

The United States is not "looking for conflict" with China, announced US President Joe Biden on Wednesday during a televised interview with American broadcaster PBS, adding that this has been Washington's policy "so far".

"We're going to compete fully with China, but... we're not looking for conflict -- and that's been the case so far," he said.

Biden's comments came in light of the shoot-down of China's "spy" balloon earlier, which, according to the US, crossed over the North American Aerospace Defense Command on January 28, over Alaska, before it was found floating over missile sites in Montana.

China regrets unintended breach, slams US media for smear campaign

Beijing's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said via a spokesperson that China regretted the unintended breach of US airspace.

The spokesperson said the device had strayed away from its planned course due to force majeure.

"The airship is from China," the statement read. "It is a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes."

The Chinese Foreign Ministry also stressed on Saturday that "China... never violated the territory and airspace of any sovereign country," adding that "some politicians and media in the United States used the (balloon) incident as a pretext to attack and smear China."

US briefs allies, insists that no escalation with Beijing desired

Following the incident of the discovery of the balloon, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was scheduled to visit China, postponed his visit just hours before he was supposed to depart for Beijing.

The Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council John Kirby assured earlier that no reason exists to escalate tensions between the US and China over the balloon, and that Secretary of State Antony Blinken's trip to China "was postponed, it was not canceled.”

“There is no reason for the tensions in our bilateral relationship to devolve into some kind of conflict, but we will obviously continue to fly, sail and operate within the bounds of international law as we have,” Kirby said.

"We already shared information with dozens of countries around the world, both from Washington and through our embassies," Blinken said.

It was reported by US media, quoting a senior administration official, that a briefing was conducted by Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman on the matter for around 40 embassies on Monday.

"We're doing so because the United States was not the only target of this broader program, which has violated the sovereignty of countries across five continents," he added during a joint press conference with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg.

White House Spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre claimed that Chinese balloons have been spotted in other nations on five different continents before and that the United States is discussing and coordinating this matter with its allies.

NATO chief uses balloon as pretext to warmonger

During a visit to the US following a trip to Japan and South Korea, Stoltenberg said the incident proved that member states of the coalition need to protect themselves.

"The Chinese balloon over the United States confirms a pattern of Chinese behavior where we see that China over the last years has invested heavily in new military capabilities," he said.

"We've also seen increased Chinese intelligence activities in Europe. They use satellites, they use cyber and, as we've seen over the United States, also balloons. So we just have to be vigilant," Stoltenberg added.

NATO chief also claimed that Beijing is monitoring the war in Ukraine and drawing lessons.

"What happens in Europe today could happen in Asia tomorrow," he said, in reference to China's tensions with Taiwan.

Balloon was part of a larger spy program

The Washington Post reported on Tuesday, citing several US officials, that the US intelligence claims that the Chinese balloon was part of a vast surveillance program of China's People's Liberation Army.

The newspaper added that US intel suspects the balloon was one of many meant to collect sensitive military information from Japan, India, Vietnam, Taiwan, and the Philippines.

"What the Chinese have done is taken an unbelievably old technology, and basically married it with modern communications and observation capabilities" to try to glean intelligence on other nations’ militaries... "It’s a massive effort," one of the officials said.