President Biden: Chinese Spy Balloon Not ‘a Major Breach’
US collecting "most of the parts" of the large airship, the president adds
President Biden downplayed the threat posed by the Chinese spy balloon which recently flew high over the United States, before being shot down by a US military jet off the East Coast.
Biden's remarks came as the military downed another, unknown object flying off the remote northern coast of Alaska on Friday on orders from the commander-in-chief.
The Chinese balloon spent days crossing over the continental United States at high altitude. While US military officials warned against shooting down the Chinese device over land, the president's political opponents criticized him mercilessly.
Biden had ordered the balloon downed once offshore, shot down in US territorial waters.
Days later, he said that balloon never represented a “major breach” of security.
“No, look, the total amount of intelligence gathering that's going on, whatever country around the world, is overwhelming. And the idea that a balloon could traverse -- break American airspace is -- anyway, this is not a major breach,” Biden said, in an interview with Spanish-language media. “I mean, look, it's totally -- it's a violation of international law, it's our airspace, and once it comes in our space, we can do what we want with it.”
Further, Biden said that he doesn't regret ordering an earlier shootdown of the balloon.
“No. The experts, the intelligence community, defense community, they forgot more about it than you or I know. I said I wanted it shot down as soon as possible, and they were worried about the damage it can be done even in a big state like Montana,” the president said. “This thing was gigantic. What would happen if it came down and hit a school in rural area? So I told them, as soon as they can shoot it down, shoot it down. They made a wise decision, they shot it down over water, they're recovering most of the parts.”
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