In a recent interview, President Joe Biden stated that the recently recovered Chinese spy balloon did not harm bilateral relations between China and the United States.
Biden, who last week authorized the U.S. military to shoot down the balloon over open water, stated he had not talked with Xi Jinping since the balloon was seen. However, he noted that his administration's representatives have maintained touch with their Chinese counterparts.
"I made it real clear to Xi Jinping that we're going to compete fully with China, but we're not looking for conflict," Biden told PBS NewsHour's Judy Woodruff. "That's been the case so far."
This is the second time this week that Biden has attempted to minimize the impact of what U.S. officials termed a "brazen" conduct by Beijing in sending an intelligence-gathering balloon across several U.S. states - with indications that it loitered over vital military sites.
Due to the balloon invasion, Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed a high-stakes trip to Beijing, undermining a crucial component of Vice President Biden's first face-to-face meeting with Xi in November. This meeting was intended to defuse tensions that had been escalating between the two powers during Biden's first weeks in office, with Blinken's subsequent visit to China seen as the next step in the process.
Officials from the Biden administration have emphasized that the meeting was not canceled, but rather postponed until a later date. This date has yet to be determined.
While the balloon was in flight, U.S. authorities communicated their worries to Chinese officials. After the balloon was shot down, they also communicated with Chinese authorities, according to senior government officials.
Biden laughed off a question when CNN asked this week if U.S. officials had any indication as to why China would commit such an overt act.
"They're the Chinese government," he said.
Officials from the Biden administration have asserted that they were able to move swiftly to limit the balloon's ability to collect intelligence and have countered that they will ultimately benefit from the ability to collect information about the balloon and Chinese intelligence capabilities during its flight and during the recovery of its wreckage in the Atlantic Ocean.
Republicans have criticized Biden for delaying several days before shooting the balloon down, which hasn't quelled the political maelstrom the event sparked.
"The idea that it was a dereliction of duty is a bizarre notion," Biden said in the interview. "China knows exactly what the deal is with us."
