Views Common Ground: On U.S.-China Relations

Payton:

Hi, Val. e relationship between the United States and China has been unstable recently, and the issue of the Chinese spy balloon that ew over U.S. sovereign territory for a week has undeniably increased the unease of the American government and its citizens. What are your thoughts?

Valerie:

Well, Payton, U.S.-China tensions are de nitely high. e Department of State reported that the balloon contained surveillance technology, and in light of this, Secretary Anthony Blinken canceled a state trip to China. And Republicans, as usual, bashed President Biden for being too slow and too so on China. Do you agree with that?

Payton:

I want to lead by saying that this is an extremely di cult situation, and I appreciate that Biden considered the sensitivity of the problem at hand. at being said, I do not think that he operated at a fast enough speed to deter China and cease their e orts to encroach on our territorial sovereignty. His administration had a defense for their reaction time, but the need to act quickly should’ve been more of a priority than trying to understand the technology. As Florida Senator Marco Rubio said, “What’s embedded here is a clear message.” China was not trying to hide the balloon from us, they ew over America’s mainland with the knowledge that we would discover it.

Valerie:

What would have been the optimal time to have shot down the balloon? I think it is important to take into consideration that this was a foreign object. At the time, there was limited knowledge about the level of danger the balloon posed to national security. I know the administration has come out and said that they waited until the balloon had dri ed into open waters before shooting it down, which seems like the safest option to me.

Payton:

Right. As I mentioned, there was no perfect way to address this issue. Unfortunately, the balloon made the front cover of almost every single prominent news platform. By waiting to shoot it down, our government looked complacent and somewhat lethargic. I recognize that there were other factors to consider, but at some point, the highestranking o cials of our military and government must be able to assess situations at a faster pace and make a decision that actively combats the problem at hand.

Valerie: is is not the rst time that there have been concerns in the intelligence community about Chinese spy balloons. During the Trump administration we had senior Pentagon o cials brie ng the administration about incursions by spy balloons. e Pentagon sounded these alarms years in advance, but they were obviously le unanswered by the Trump administration. I don’t think it’s productive or accurate to characterize this as a partisan problem. Rather, it is representative of a holistic issue regarding how we combat China’s breach in our national security.

Payton:

I agree with you fully that Trump did a poor job of combating the issue of spy balloons. My criticism of Biden is not because of the side of the political aisle he falls on, and I don’t think that Biden deserves more blame than Trump did a few years back. ere needs to be more emphasis on transparency and active leadership on both sides of the aisle. Democrat or Republican, I think that the government should be more aggressive in its e orts to deter China and reassure worried Americans.

Valerie:

I totally agree with you on this. It took the public almost two weeks a er the balloons were shot down to nd out whether the other balloons were also Chinese spy balloons. While they weren’t, that information should’ve been accessible to ordinary Americans. is starts with better tracking technology. When the information that o cials are using to track these unidenti ed objects is dated, the government can’t provide the public with timely or accurate information. ere needs to be a larger conversation about investing in tracking technology so that we are cognizant, in the future, about any potential national security threats.

Payton:

Absolutely. It became an unnecessary political problem because of an initial lack of adept technology. e public still lacks many details, and I think that a further explanation is owed. e Biden administration could’ve been more active, but I’m ultimately understanding and relieved that the balloon eventually was shot down. If nothing else, I hope that this opens our eyes to the imminent threat of Chinese surveillance.