WASHINGTON — Despite pressure from the Republican opposition, U.S. President Joe Biden’s response to the Chinese balloon incident over the continental United States appears to remain subdued.
This approach appears to have been designed to avoid an escalation with a second major adversary while the administration deals with Russia’s nearly year-long war in Ukraine.
National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby told reporters that the balloon drama does not change the fact that the administration is committed to avoiding conflict and remains committed to keeping lines of communication open with the China.
Nothing has changed in the president’s desire to “move toward improving this relationship,” Kirby said.
Tensions between the United States and China remain high after the discovery of a balloon that Biden ordered to be shot down on February 4.
According to Kirby, the administration’s approach to its opponents has not changed. He pointed to the National Security Strategy, released in October, which identifies competition with China and Russia in shaping the world order as the main strategic challenge for the United States.
“I am committed to working with China where we can advance American interests and benefit the world,” Biden said in his State of the Union address to Congress days after ordering the military to shoot down a spy balloon.
“But make no mistake about it. As we made clear last week, if China threatens our sovereignty, we will take action to protect our country. And that’s what we did,” he added.
Biden has a reason to avoid escalation with China: his administration is already trying to coordinate NATO’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Since the outbreak of war on Feb. 24, 2022, the administration has pledged more than $27.1 billion in security aid to Kiev, and it is careful not to pressure Beijing into getting any closer to Moscow.
Beijing is spreading anti-Western propaganda from Moscow and stepping up its exchanges with Russia, but does not provide direct military support to Putin. Nor has China helped the Russian government and banks circumvent harsh Western sanctions.
“One of the key topics that the Biden administration wants to discuss with Beijing is Chinese non-intervention in the war in Ukraine so that Beijing does not provide any political or military support to Russia,” said Eric Brattberg, vice president. senior European practice. at the consulting firm Albright Stonebridge Group.
With Chinese diplomatic chief Wang Yi due to visit Moscow this week and Chinese President Xi Jinping expected to visit Russia in the coming months, analysts say the administration has few options.
“The best the United States can hope for is to effectively manage the immediate threat from Russia and weaken Russia to the point where it cannot pose a serious threat to its neighbors. After that, they can turn to a much bigger challenge in China,” said Council on Foreign Relations fellow David Sachs.
“The biggest problem, in my view, is the pressure the war in Ukraine is putting on the US military-industrial complex, which is totally unprepared for a direct conflict with China,” Sachs told media.
Beijing is also trying to get closer to another American adversary, Iran. On Tuesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping was in Tehran, where he defended the right of the Islamic Republic to protect its rights and interests, Chinese state media reported.
“We see that a long-term rivalry is emerging between the global West (US, EU and developed democracies) on the one hand and China, Russia and Iran and a few other countries on the other hand. on the other hand, when the latter are outraged by the dominance of the global West in international systems,” said Robert Daly, director of the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States at the Wilson Center.
