Morning Jolt: China’s Spy Balloon Downed — but What Took Biden So Long?

On the menu today: There was a logic to each step in the U.S. response to the Chinese spy balloon that floated across the country and that a U.S. fighter jet shot down off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday. But the logic of each step did not add up to a coherent strategy as a whole, and there are serious questions about whether it was the right response to a brazen provocation by the Chinese government.

The Trial of the Balloon

That Chinese spy balloon floated over U.S. and Canadian airspace for eight days. The U.S. government tracked it for five days, and it said nothing until a Montana newspaper published pictures of it.

According to the released transcript of a press briefing led by an unnamed "senior defense official," the Chinese spy balloon "entered the Alaska Joint Operating Area on January 28th, having entered the U.S. Air Defense Identification Zone north of the Aleutian Islands, and therefore passing into sovereign U.S. ...

WITH JIM GERAGHTY February 06 2023 WITH JIM GERAGHTY February 06 2023 China's Spy Balloon Downed — but What Took Biden So Long? On the menu today: There was a logic to each step in the U.S. response to the Chinese spy balloon that floated across the country and that a U.S. fighter jet shot down off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday. But the logic of each step did not add up to a coherent strategy as a whole, and there are serious questions about whether it was the right response to a brazen provocation by the Chinese government. The Trial of the Balloon That Chinese spy balloon floated over U.S. and Canadian airspace for eight days. The U.S. government tracked it for five days, and it said nothing until a Montana newspaper published pictures of it. According to the released transcript of a press briefing led by an unnamed "senior defense official," the Chinese spy balloon "entered the Alaska Joint Operating Area on January 28th, having entered the U.S. Air Defense Identification Zone north of the Aleutian Islands, and therefore passing into sovereign U.S. ...   READ MORE

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