1 big thing: China crashes Biden’s State of the Union
The balloon drifts toward the ocean off the coast of Surfside Beach, S.C., after being shot down. Photo: Randall Hill/Reuters
China will be an uninvited guest at President Biden’s State of the Union address Tuesday night, as he takes credit for a resilient economy, celebrates record-low unemployment, and previews a broader domestic agenda, writes Axios’ Hans’ Nichols.
- Why it matters: The stakes are high for Biden as he emphasizes a series of accomplishments and tries to control the narrative about his administration as it faces investigations by House Republicans.
- Now, a balloon from China has complicated that.
What we’re watching, via Axios’ Bethany Allen-Ebrahamian in Taipei:
- The spy balloon incident has derailed months of careful planning between Washington and Beijing to reach some kind of diplomatic detente.
- In recent months, Chinese leader Xi Jinping has adopted a softer tone in his dealings with western countries, in what appears to be a strategic turn away from direct confrontation as he faces serious domestic challenges.
- Sending a spy balloon directly over the continental U.S. is a remarkable provocation and would seem to fly in the face of this new strategy.
Biden and his speechwriters are prepared to be nimble — and likely rewrite — the China sections of the speech, as officials weigh Beijing’s response to the U.S. military’s downing of the surveillance balloon after it drifted across North America.
- The president’s challenge is to signal to Beijing that violating America’s airspace won’t be tolerated, while also convincing Americans — and skeptical Republicans — that he did enough to protect U.S. airspace.
- Biden said that on Wednesday he ordered the balloon to be shot down and that national security officials thought it safest to wait until it was over water. China insisted the flyover was an accident involving a civilian aircraft and threatened repercussions, AP notes.
The president also wants to preserve his administration’s ability to cooperate with China on everything from the global economy to climate change.
Amazing how people are struggling with inflation and the Bidet ignores inflation.
The Bidet ignores the open border and millions who crossed and resettled in the US.
The massive costs of illegals that are ASSylum seekers to the US taxpayers.
The cost of stripping the US military of material and transferring it to Ukraine.
The debacle caused by the Bidet administration in Afghanistan.
Foreign policy a complete joke.
Yes and the persistent Hunter computer the media d administration try and ignore.
Axios AM
