[Asia Economy New York=Special Correspondent Joselgina] After the Biden administration shot down a Chinese reconnaissance balloon that entered U.S. airspace a week after detecting it, the opposition Republican Party has launched a fierce attack, arguing that the shootdown order should have been given sooner.
Marco Rubio, Republican senator and vice chairman of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, appeared on ABC News on the 5th (local time) and said, "I don't understand why the president did not explain this early on in front of the cameras," adding, "This is the beginning of dereliction of duty." He argued that although shooting down the reconnaissance balloon could have caused it to fall in the wrong place or damage infrastructure, it should have been shot down earlier, or the president should have personally explained the situation to the public.
Rubio, a member of the 'Gang of Eight,' a leadership group in the Senate and House that receives classified information from the government, expressed concern, saying, "The reconnaissance balloon passed over Idaho and Montana airspace, as well as sensitive military facilities such as Air Force bases and ICBM bases," adding, "This has never happened before."
There was also an analysis that China's reconnaissance balloon intrusion was not solely for intelligence gathering. Rubio interpreted it as sending the message, "We have this capability, and the U.S. can do nothing about it." He predicted, "This will not be the last incident," and "It does not appear to be accidental." He further questioned, "If we cannot stop balloons in U.S. airspace, how can the U.S. help if China invades Taiwan or seizes Indian territory, the Philippines, or Japanese islands?"
Additionally, Rubio expressed disbelief at China's response warning retaliation for the shootdown, claiming the balloon was for civilian use. He said, "If we sent something over Chinese airspace, they would film it, shoot it down, and go crazy." Regarding the U.S. government's recovery of balloon debris shot down over the Atlantic, he suggested, "China must have anticipated that the debris would fall into U.S. hands," implying it would be difficult to gain significant intelligence from it.
Tom Cotton, Republican senator on the Senate Intelligence Committee, also criticized the Biden administration's response on Fox News. He said the White House was paralyzed for a week from the discovery to the shootdown of the reconnaissance balloon, which was shot down three days after President Biden's order, and argued, "What started as a spy balloon became a test of President Biden's strength and decisiveness. Unfortunately, the president failed that test." Republican Senator Ted Cruz also pointed out in a CBS interview that the reconnaissance balloon was allowed to conduct operations over military facilities for a week and that President Biden should have ordered the shootdown sooner.
Michael Turner, Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, mocked the Biden administration's decision to wait for the balloon shootdown, saying, "It's like tackling the quarterback after the game is over." He appeared on NBC News that day and argued that the military should have chosen an earlier shootdown time and shot down the balloon over sparsely populated areas such as Alaska. According to The Washington Post (WP), House Republicans are reportedly considering passing a resolution criticizing President Biden's response on the 7th, when his State of the Union address is scheduled.
The U.S. government detected the balloon entering U.S. airspace on the 28th of last month. President Biden ordered a review of the shootdown on the 1st. Concerned about ground damage, U.S. authorities shot down the balloon with an F-22 stealth fighter's air-to-air missile the day before, just after it moved over the Atlantic Ocean. The debris will be collected to analyze the purpose of the airspace intrusion and China's intelligence-gathering capabilities.
A senior Department of Defense official told WP that before this incident, Chinese reconnaissance balloons had entered the U.S. mainland three times during the previous Trump administration and once during the early Biden administration.
U.S.-China relations, which had been improving following a summit at the end of last year, are now at risk of deteriorating again. China has openly expressed displeasure, calling the U.S. response an excessive reaction violating international law. Secretary of State Tony Blinken, who was originally scheduled to visit China, abruptly postponed his trip on the 3rd?the day of departure?citing the reconnaissance balloon incident as the reason.
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