Joe Biden said US would shoot down any aerial object threatening his safety

The president of the United States, Joe Bidenwarned on Thursday that shoot down any flying object that poses a threat to the security of his country.

“If an object poses a threat to the safety of the American people, I will remove it,” the president promised during a press appearance at the White House.

The president ordered national security adviser Jake Sullivan to lead an ‘interagency team’ to review procedures after the US shot down the Chinese spy balloon, along with three other potentially ‘benign’ objects launched by private companies or research institutes.

While he doesn’t regret shooting down the three as-yet-unidentified objects, Biden said he hopes the new rules will help “distinguish between those that may pose security risks that require action and those who don’t.”

“Don’t get me wrong, if an item poses a threat to the safety of the American people, I will remove it.he added, repeating the legal justification given for the shootings: that objects flying between 6,000 and 12,000 meters posed a risk to civil aircraft.

The downing of the Chinese surveillance craft was the first known peacetime downing of an unauthorized object in US airspace, a feat that was repeated three times a week later.

Biden harshly criticized China’s surveillance program, saying the withdrawal sent a “clear message, the violation of our sovereignty is unacceptablebut said he was seeking to keep lines of communication with Beijing open. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken postponed his first planned trip to China as the balloon hovered over the United States, and another meeting with his Chinese counterpart has yet to be scheduled.

“I look forward to speaking with President Xi and hopefully we can get to the bottom of this,” Biden said, adding, “But I don’t apologize for dropping that ball.”

Biden said the rules would remain classified so as not to “Give our enemies a road map to try and evade our defenses.”

The Chinese balloon has heightened tensions between the United States and China. Blinken goes Thursday to Munich Security Conference and there is speculation that he could use the opportunity to meet senior Chinese foreign policy official Wang Yi, who is also attending the conference.

Biden had remained largely silent on the downed objects Friday off the Alaskan coast, Saturday over Canada and Sunday over Lake Huron. Monday, the White House fervently announced that there were no indications of ‘extraterrestrial or extraterrestrial activity’. On Wednesday, US officials said they were still working to locate the remains of the objects, but hoped the three were unrelated to surveillance efforts.

“The intelligence community considers the primary explanation to be that these could be balloons attached for commercial or benign purposes,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said. No country or private company has come forward to claim any of the objects, Kirby said. They do not appear to have been operated by the United States government.

There are still unresolved questions about the original balloon, including its spy capabilities and if it transmitted signals while flying over sensitive military sites in the United States. US intelligence at first believed they were heading for the US territory of Guam, a US official said.

The United States tracked him for several days after he left China, said the official, who spoke to The Associated Press condition of anonymity to discuss confidential information. It appears to have veered off its original path and eventually flew over the continental United States, the official said.

Balloons and other unidentified objects have previously been seen over Guam, a strategic hub for the Navy and the the american air force in the Western Pacific.

It is unclear how much control China retained over the world once it veered off its original course. A second US official said the balloon could have been maneuvered from the outside or directed to hover over a specific target, but it is unclear whether Chinese forces did so.

After the balloon was shot down, the White House revealed that such balloons had crossed U.S. territory at least three times during President Donald Trump’s administration without Trump or his aides knowing, and that others had flown overhead. dozens of countries on five continents. Kirby stressed on Monday that they had only been detected by the Biden administration.

With information from AP and EFE

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