US military officials have chosen not to shoot down a Chinese spy balloon floating over Montana, and an expert told Fox News Digital that China may interpret the inaction as the US being “unable” to defend its sovereignty.
“The Chinese are saying, ‘They won’t fight back, we can do whatever we want,'” author and columnist Gordon Chang told Fox News Digital in response to a Chinese surveillance balloon flying over Montana that the Biden administration allowed to remain. in the air. .
“You have no sovereignty. That is the message that the Chinese send. And that’s the message that (Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark) Milley is reinforcing. And that’s the message that Biden is sending to China.”
A senior administration official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss sensitive information, said President Biden was briefed and asked the military to come up with options on how to handle the surveillance balloon.
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Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping
(AP/fake images)
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Milley advised against taking “kinetic actions” because of the risks to the safety of people on the ground. Biden accepted that recommendation.
Chang, author of “The Coming Collapse of China,” told Fox News Digital that the rationale against shooting down the globe is “silly.”
“The Chinese believe, because we failed to shoot down the balloon, that we are incapable of defending ourselves for whatever reason, whether we want to protect the cows on the ground or we don’t want to offend the Chinese,” Chang said. .
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“Milley’s advice is simply wrong,” Chang added. “And Milley’s advice is just dangerous. Milley’s advice is leading the Chinese to think that they should do what they want and the United States will not respond.”
President Biden, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands before their meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit on November 14, 2022, in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia.
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Chang says the argument that shooting down the balloon is too dangerous is a “nonsense” position because “any course of action now, after decades of misguided policy, is risky and dangerous.”
“The most risky and dangerous course of action is to continue what we have been doing in creating this risky and dangerous situation in the first place,” Chang said. “We have created the conditions for war. That does not mean that we are the aggressor, but it does mean that we are allowing China to become an aggressor.”
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Biden has faced a multitude of calls from Republicans, including former President Trump, to bring down the balloon.
“If I were president, I would shoot down the balloon right away,” Chang said. “I would order Blinken not to go to Beijing, but to go to Taipei. He would start closing all four Chinese consulates in the US. He would reduce the embassy staff to just the ambassador and his family.
“I would order the closure of Chinese companies in the US. I would make it clear to China that there are costs for violating our sovereignty and committing acts of war against the United States of America.”
Gordon Chang spoke to Fox News Digital about the Chinese surveillance balloon flying over Montana
(Fox)
The White House announced Friday that Blinken’s trip to China to discuss the Russia-Ukraine war with Chinese officials and meet with President Xi has been postponed.
“It is unacceptable that this has happened. After consultations with our interagency partners, as well as Congress, we have concluded that conditions are not right at this time for Secretary Blinken to travel to China,” a senior official said.
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Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment and was directed to a background briefing Friday in which a senior defense official said the United States “simply couldn’t reduce risk enough to feel comfortable recommending taking it down.” yesterday”.
The Defense Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Associated Press contributed to this report
