Navy reveals shot-down Chinese spy balloon debris – live

In remarks on Tuesday as the GOP prepares to respond to Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, Republican conference chair Elise Stefanik demanded that the president “answer for his failed leadership,” pointing to the US-Mexico border, inflation, and “a ballon from communist China entering the United States sovereign airspace.”

“Joe Biden has caused a crisis in America,” she said.

She called his response – which included shooting down the balloon, which his GOP critics demanded that he do – an “abysmal failure” in comments to Fox News, echoing other right-wing personalities who have relied on the balloon incident to amplify their anti-China agenda and contempt for the administration.

Far-right US Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia wants to bring a white balloon to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night.

She is among Republican lawmakers who have used the spy balloon incident to amplify their ongoing contempt for the president and the administration’s approach to China, despite Mr Biden ordering military officials to shoot down the balloon, which a US Air Force F-22 fighter jet brought down over the coast of South Carolina on Saturday.

Biden administration officials spent the last several days detailing what intelligence they’ve uncovered and explaining why it was too dangerous to shoot down the balloon until the potential debris field was clear and over water. The president had even asked to shoot it down sooner before military officials advised to wait until it was out of harm’s way.

But Ms Greene and other right-wing personalities are asking why it wasn’t brought down sooner, baselessly suggesting that the president “allowed” China to gather intelligence about the US.

Ms Greene, who is supporting Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign for president, has not commented on military reports that similar Chinese balloons were discovered above the US during his administration.

The Independent’s Graig Graziosi has more:

Donald Trump, who had a bank account in China and paid more in taxes to foreign governments than he did to the US his first year in office, claimed that he brought attention to Chinese threats “way back in 2015” when he launched his first serious presidential campaign.

“So much talk now about the threat of China,” he wrote in a post on Truth Social on Tuesday. “Question: Who was the first person, way back in 2015, and before, that brought China to the attention of ALL, with many refusing to accept what was being so strongly and brilliantly stated? Why, surprise, it was Donald J Trump, of course!”

He said that the US “can have a great relationship with China, but it has to be one of MUTUAL respect.”

“Right now they have ZERO respect for the USA, two years ago it was at record levels!” he added.

Military officials have revealed that several Chinese balloon sightings were reported during the Trump administration. They were not shot down.

President Joe Biden will discuss the nation’s relationship with China during his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, though she did not provide specifics about the nature of those remarks.

The US, however, will keep “open lines of communication” with China in the fallout from the balloon incident, she told reporters at the White House on Monday.

She said it is “up to China to figure out what kind of relationship they want” in its wake.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s postponed trip to China, which was shelved in the midst of the surveillance balloon discovery, will be “back on the books” when time permits, Ms Jean-Pierre said.

President Biden also told reporters on Monday afternoon that the recent incident will not change his speech plans.

“I want to talk to the American people and let them know the state of affairs –what’s going on, what I’m looking forward to working on from this point on, what we’ve done, and just have a conversation with the American people,” he said.

US officials say that efforts ordered by President Joe Biden to strengthen defenses against Chinese espionage helped identify last week’s spy balloon — and determine that similar flights were conducted at multiple points during the Trump administration.

Photgraphs published by the US Navy provide the first up-close images of the downed balloon, which military officials say was roughly 200-feet tall and weighed hundreds of pounds.

The popularity and immediacy of balloon-lreated clips reflect TikTok’s extraordinary reach and ability for its users to capture breaking news events even more nimbly than dedicated networks.

It also suggests that the platform’s mysterious algorithm was directing users towards the #chinesespyballoon content – even while Chinese authorities insisted the balloon was a civilian craft that drifted off course and accused US authorities of violating international accords.

Chinese authorities accused the US of violating international law and using “indiscriminate use of force” for shooting down one of the country’s surveillance balloons off the coast of South Carolina after it cruised across the US for several days.

But China also aired a documentary about its own authorities shooting down a balloon, CNN reports.

China state media footage appeared to corroborate US claims that Chinese authorities has been developing a robust high-altitude surveillance craft programme for several years, with clips showing Chinese officials discussing unmanned balloons and outlining their flight path.