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Tag: Antony Blinken

  • Blinken and Chinese counterpart meet in first face-to-face since spy balloon shot down | CNN

    Blinken and Chinese counterpart meet in first face-to-face since spy balloon shot down | CNN

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    CNN
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    US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with China’s top diplomat Wang Yi on Saturday, in the first face-to-face between senior US and Chinese officials since the US military shot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon earlier this month.

    In a meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Blinken “directly spoke to the unacceptable violation of US sovereignty and international law” and said incidents like the surveillance balloon, which hovered over US airspace for days before the US shot it down off the coast of South Carolina, “must never occur again,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said statement.

    Blinken, who a senior State Department official characterized as “very direct and candid throughout,” began the hourlong meeting by stating “how unacceptable and irresponsible” it was that China had flown the balloon into US airspace. The secretary later expressed disappointment that Beijing had not engaged in military-to-military dialogue when the Chinese balloon incident occurred, the senior official told reporters.

    “He stated, candidly stated, our disappointment that in this recent period that our Chinese military counterparts had refused to pick up the phone. We think that’s unfortunate. And that is not the way that our two sides ought to be conducting business,” the official said.

    There was “no formal agreement” reached, however, on any kind of mechanism to increase dialogue between the two countries.

    The diplomatic fallout from the balloon has been swift, with Washington accusing China of overseeing an extensive international surveillance program. Beijing, meanwhile, has denied those claims, and in turn accused the US, without providing evidence, of flying balloons over its airspace without permission. China maintains that its balloon, which US forces identified and then downed earlier this month, was a civilian research aircraft accidentally blown off course.

    Wang confirmed what he called an “informal” meeting with Blinken on Saturday and called on the US to repair the “damage” to the countries’ relations, according to a press release broadcast by CGTN, which is a Chinese state media outlet. Earlier, Wang had criticized the United States’ handling of the incident, calling the response “absurd and hysterical” and “100% an abuse of the use of force.”

    The incident had an immediate impact on what had been seen as an opportunity for the US and China to stabilize relations. In early February, Blinken postponed an expected visit to Beijing, after the balloon – floating over the US in plain sight – dominated media headlines and public attention.

    The visit would have been the first to China by a US secretary of state since 2018, on the heels of a relatively amicable face-to-face between US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the Group of 20 summit in November.

    Biden said Thursday that he expects to speak with Xi about the balloon but that he will not apologize for shooting it down. “I hope we are going to get to the bottom of this, but I make no apologies for taking down that balloon,” he said.

    Blinken raised a possible conversation between Biden and Xi, according to the State Department official, who said US officials have not heard anything in recent days that would change the US assessment that the balloon was for Chinese surveillance.

    “We haven’t heard anything that provides any kind of a credible explanation for what this balloon was. The US stands firmly behind our assessment,” the official said.

    Some analysts believed that Beijing, economically drained by its now-abandoned zero-Covid strategy, had been softening its tone on foreign affairs and upping its diplomacy with Western governments in a bid to win back lost ground.

    While expectations for substantial breakthroughs were low, Blinken’s trip was supposed to build a floor for fraught US-China relations and prevent tensions from veering into open conflict – guardrails intended to keep incidents like the suspected surveillance balloon from escalating into a full-blown diplomatic crisis.

    CNN reported Wednesday that US intelligence officials are assessing the possibility that the balloon was not deliberately maneuvered into the continental US by the Chinese government and are examining whether it was diverted off course by strong winds, according to multiple people briefed on the intelligence.

    Any intelligence suggesting that the balloon’s path into the US may have been unintentional could potentially ease tensions between the two nations.

    Wang, who was named Xi’s top foreign policy adviser last month, has already visited France and Italy this week and is expected to visit Russia after the Munich conference.

    The trip will be a test of Beijing’s attempt to strike a diplomatic balancing act between boosting relations with the West and maintaining close ties with Moscow.

    Blinken and Wang on Saturday discussed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with the US secretary of state warning “about the implications and consequences” if China increases its support for Russia’s war effort, according to Price’s readout of the meeting.

    US officials familiar with the intelligence told CNN earlier Saturday that the US has recently begun seeing “disturbing” trendlines in China’s support for Russia’s military and there are signs that Beijing wants to “creep up to the line” of providing lethal military aid to Russia without getting caught.

    Those officials would not describe in detail what intelligence the US has seen suggesting a recent shift in China’s posture, but said US officials have been concerned enough that they have shared the intelligence with allies and partners in Munich over the last several days.

    China’s relationship with Europe has come under significant stress in the wake of the Ukraine war. Beijing has refused to condemn the invasion outright or support numerous measures against it at the United Nations. China has also continued to partner with the Russian military during large-scale exercises, while boosting its trade and fuel purchases from Moscow.

    According to China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Wang’s visit to Moscow will provide an opportunity for China and Russia to continue to develop their strategic partnership and “exchange views” on “international and regional hotspot issues of shared interest” – a catch-all phrase often used to allude to topics, including the war in Ukraine.

    The Foreign Ministry did not specify whether Wang would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

    “China is ready to take this visit as an opportunity and work with Russia to promote steady growth of bilateral relations in the direction identified by the two heads of state, defend the legitimate rights and interests of both sides, and play an active role for world peace,” spokesman Wang Wenbin said.

    Wang’s visit may also foreshadow a state visit by Xi to Moscow later this year. Putin extended an invitation to Xi during a customary end-of-year call between the two leaders, but China’s Foreign Ministry has yet to confirm any plans.

    Blinken, who reiterated Saturday the US’ unchanging policy regarding Taiwan and “underscored the importance of maintaining peace and stability” with the democratically ruled island, reinforced statements from Biden that the US does not seek a conflict with China but will continue to “stand up for our values.”

    “The Secretary reiterated President Biden’s statements that the United States will compete and will unapologetically stand up for our values and interests, but that we do not want conflict with the PRC and are not looking for a new Cold War,” Price said in the statement. “The Secretary underscored the importance of maintaining diplomatic dialogue and open lines of communication at all times.”

    This story has been updated with additional developments.

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  • Blinken warns Chinese foreign minister balloon incursion

    Blinken warns Chinese foreign minister balloon incursion

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    Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi Saturday at an international security conference in Munich, marking the first high-level contact between the U.S. and China since the U.S. shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon two weeks ago. 

    In their hourlong meeting, Blinken told Wang that Beijing’s surveillance program had been “exposed to the world.”

    “I condemned the incursion of the PRC surveillance balloon and stressed it must never happen again,” Blinken said in a tweet, referring to the People’s Republic of China.

    State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement that Blinken “made clear the United States will not stand for any violation of our sovereignty, and that the PRC’s high-altitude surveillance balloon program — which has intruded into the airspace of over 40 countries across five continents — has been exposed to the world,” Price said.

    Blinken canceled a trip to Beijing earlier this month because of the balloon incident, which has become a major issue of contention between the two countries. A meeting at the conference in Germany had been widely anticipated.

    Blinken also told Wang that the U.S. does not seek conflict with China, repeating a standard talking point that the Biden administration has provided since it has come into office.

    “The United States will compete and will unapologetically stand up for our values and interests, but that we do not want conflict with the PRC and are not looking for a new Cold War,” Price said. Blinken “underscored the importance of maintaining diplomatic dialogue and open lines of communication at all times.”

    In addition to the balloon incident, Price said Blinken had reiterated a warning to China on providing assistance to Russia to help with its war against Ukraine, including assisting Moscow with evading sanctions the West has imposed on Russia.

    “I warned China against providing materiel support to Russia,” Blinken said in his tweet. “I also emphasized the importance of keeping open lines of communication.”

    Earlier Saturday, Wang had reiterated Beijing’s criticism of the United States for shooting down the balloon, arguing that the move did not show U.S. strength.

    Beijing insists the white orb shot down off the Carolina coast on Feb. 4 was just an errant civilian airship used mainly for meteorological research that went off course due to winds and had only limited “self-steering” capabilities. But U.S. officials said that the balloon had equipment that was “clearly for intelligence surveillance,” including “multiple antennas” that were “likely capable of collecting and geo-locating communications,” according to a statement by a senior State Department official. 

    Wang, the director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, repeated the claim in a speech at the conference and accused the U.S. of violating international legal norms in destroying the object with a missile fired from an U.S. fighter jet.

    “The actions don’t show that the U.S. is big and strong, but describe the exact opposite,” Wang said.

    Wang also accused the U.S. of denying China’s economic advances and seeking to impede its further development.

    “What we hope for from the U.S. is a pragmatic and positive approach to China that allows us to work together,” Wang said.

    His comments came shortly before an address to the conference by Vice President Kamala Harris, who didn’t mention the balloon controversy or respond to Wang’s comments. She stressed the importance of upholding the “international rules-based order.”

    She said Washington is “troubled that Beijing has deepened its relationship with Moscow since the war began” in Ukraine and that “looking ahead, any steps by China to provide lethal support to Russia would only reward aggression, continue the killing and further undermine a rules-based order.”

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  • China talks ‘peace,’ woos Europe and trashes Biden in Munich

    China talks ‘peace,’ woos Europe and trashes Biden in Munich

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    MUNICH — China is trying to drive a fresh wedge between Europe and the United States as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine trudges past its one-year mark.

    Such was the motif of China’s newly promoted foreign policy chief Wang Yi when he broke the news at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday that President Xi Jinping would soon present a “peace proposal” to resolve what Beijing calls a conflict — not a war — between Moscow and Kyiv. And he pointedly urged his European audience to get on board and shun the Americans.

    In a major speech, Wang appealed specifically to the European leaders gathered in the room.

    “We need to think calmly, especially our friends in Europe, about what efforts should be made to stop the warfare; what framework should there be to bring lasting peace to Europe; what role should Europe play to manifest its strategic autonomy,” said Wang, who will continue his Europe tour with a stop in Moscow.

    In contrast, Wang launched a vociferous attack on “weak” Washington’s “near-hysterical” reaction to Chinese balloons over U.S. airspace, portraying the country as warmongering.

    “Some forces might not want to see peace talks to materialize,” he said, widely interpreted as a reference to the U.S. “They don’t care about the life and death of Ukrainians, [nor] the harms on Europe. They might have strategic goals larger than Ukraine itself. This warfare must not continue.”

    Yet at the conference, Europe showed no signs of distancing itself from the U.S. nor pulling back on military support for Ukraine. The once-hesitant German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged Europe to give Ukraine even more modern tanks. And French President Emmanuel Macron shot down the idea of immediate peace talks with the Kremlin.

    And, predictably, there was widespread skepticism that China’s idea of “peace” will match that of Europe.

    “China has not been able to condemn the invasion,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told a group of reporters. Beijing’s peace plan, he added, “is quite vague.” Peace, the NATO chief emphasized, is only possible if Russia respects Ukraine’s sovereignty.

    Europe watches with caution

    Wang’s overtures illustrate the delicate dance China has been trying to pull off since the war began.

    Keen to ensure Russia is not weakened in the long run, Beijing has offered Vladimir Putin much-needed diplomatic support, while steering clear of any direct military assistance that would attract Western sanctions against its economic and trade relations with the world.

    Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba is expected to hold a bilateral meeting with Wang while in Munich | Johannes Simon/Getty Images

    “We will put forward China’s position on the political settlement on the Ukraine crisis, and stay firm on the side of peace and dialogue,” Wang said. “We do not add fuel to the fire, and we are against reaping benefit from this crisis.”

    According to Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who met Wang earlier this week, Xi will make his “peace proposal” on the first anniversary of the war, which is Friday.

    Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba is expected to hold a bilateral meeting with Wang while in Munich. He said he hoped to have a “frank” conversation with the Beijing envoy.

    “We believe that compliance with the principle of territorial integrity is China’s fundamental interest in the international arena,” Kuleba told journalists in Munich. “And that commitment to the observance and protection of this principle is a driving force for China, greater than other arguments offered by Ukraine, the United States, or any other country.”

    EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell met Wang later on Saturday and called on him to “use [China’s] closeness to convince Russia to engage in real peace efforts. Borrell expressed hope that Wang’s visit to Moscow could be used to convince Russia to stop its brutal war,” according to an EU official familiar with the talks, adding the EU chief told Wang Russia conducted “gross violation of the letter and spirit of the U.N. Charter.”

    Many in Munich were wary of the upcoming Chinese plan.

    German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock welcomed China’s effort to use its influence to foster peace but told reporters she had “talked intensively” with Wang during a bilateral meeting on Friday about “what a just peace means: not rewarding the attacker, the aggressor, but standing up for international law and for those who have been attacked.”

    “A just peace,” she added, “presupposes that the party that has violated territorial integrity — meaning Russia — withdraws its troops from the occupied country.”

    One reason for Europe’s concerns is the Chinese peace plan could undermine an effort at the United Nations to rally support for a resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which will be on the U.N.’s General Assembly agenda next week, according to three European officials and diplomats.

    Taiwan issue stokes up US-China tension

    If China was keen to talk about peace in Ukraine, it’s more reluctant to do so in a case closer to home.

    When Wolfgang Ischinger, the veteran German diplomat behind the conference, asked Wang if he could reassure the audience Beijing was not planning an imminent military escalation against Taiwan, the Chinese envoy was non-committal.

    Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said “what is happening in Europe today could happen in east Asia tomorrow” | Johannes Simon/Getty Images

    “Let me assure the audience that Taiwan is part of Chinese territory. It has never been a country and it will never be a country in the future,” Wang said.

    The worry over Taiwan resonated in a speech from NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who said “what is happening in Europe today could happen in Asia tomorrow.” Reminding the audience of the painful experience of relying on Russia’s energy supply, he said: “We should not make the same mistakes with China and other authoritarian regimes.”

    But China’s most forceful attack was reserved for the U.S. Calling its decision to shoot down Chinese and other balloons “absurd” and “near-hysterical,” Wang said: “It does not show the U.S. is strong; on the contrary, it shows it is weak.

    Wang also amplified the message in other bilateral meetings, including one with Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. “U.S. bias and ignorance against China has reached a ridiculous level,” he said. “The U.S. … has to stop this kind of absurd nonsense out of domestic political needs.”

    It remains unclear if Wang will hold a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken while in Germany, as has been discussed.

    Hans von der Burchard and Lili Bayer reported from Munich, and Stuart Lau reported from Brussels.

    This article was updated to include details of the meeting between Wang and Borrell.

    CORRECTION: Jens Stoltenberg’s reference to Asia has been updated.

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    Stuart Lau , Hans von der Burchard and Lili Bayer

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  • Inside Biden’s decision to ‘take care of’ the Chinese spy balloon that triggered a diplomatic crisis | CNN Politics

    Inside Biden’s decision to ‘take care of’ the Chinese spy balloon that triggered a diplomatic crisis | CNN Politics

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    Washington
    CNN
     — 

    When President Joe Biden learned a likely Chinese spy balloon was drifting through the stratosphere 60,000 feet above Montana, his first inclination was to take it down.

    By then, however, it was both too early and too late. After flying over swaths of sparsely populated land, it was now projected to keep drifting over American cities and towns. The debris from the balloon could endanger lives on the ground, his top military brass told him.

    The massive white orb, carrying aloft a payload the size of three coach buses, had already been floating in and out of American airspace for three days before it created enough concern for Biden’s top general to brief him, according to two US officials.

    Its arrival had gone unnoticed by the public as it floated eastward over Alaska – where it was first detected by North American Aerospace Defense Command on January 28 – toward Canada. NORAD continued to track and assess the balloon’s path and activities, but military officials assigned little importance to the intrusion into American airspace, having often witnessed Chinese spy balloons slip into the skies above the United States. At the time, the balloon was not assessed to be an intelligence risk or physical threat, officials say.

    This time, however, the balloon kept going: high over Alaska, into Canada and back toward the US, attracting little attention from anyone looking up from the ground.

    “We’ve seen them and monitored them, briefed Congress on the capabilities they can bring to the table,” another US official told CNN. “But we’ve never seen something as brazen as this.”

    It would take seven days from when the balloon first entered US airspace before an F-22 fighter jet fired a heat-seeking missile into the balloon on the opposite end of the country, sending its equipment and machinery tumbling into the Atlantic Ocean.

    The balloon’s week-long American journey, from the remote Aleutian Islands to the Carolina coast, left a wake of shattered diplomacy, furious reprisals from Biden’s political rivals and a preview of a new era of escalating military strain between the world’s two largest economies.

    It’s also raised questions about why it wasn’t shot down sooner and what information, if any, it scooped up along its path.

    What was meant to be a high-profile moment of statesmanship -as Secretary of State Antony Blinken prepared to travel to China instead transformed into a televised standoff, testing Biden’s resolve at a new moment of reckoning with China. As Navy divers and FBI investigators sort through the tangle of equipment and technology that tumbled into the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday, Biden and his team must also piece together what the episode means for the broader relationship with Beijing.

    Minutes after the balloon was shot down at his order, a reporter asked Biden what message his decision sent to China. He looked on silently before stepping into his SUV.

    On Tuesday, as Biden darted from Washington to New York City for an infrastructure event and a fundraiser, Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, informed him there was a Chinese balloon floating over Montana.

    The location was unnerving: As officials watched the balloon’s path, there was alarm at what appeared to be deliberate effort to sit over an Air Force base that maintains one of the largest silos of US intercontinental ballistic missiles.

    For some administration officials, the timing also appeared intentional. The balloon floated over the US the same week Blinken was due to depart for China, a high-stakes visit viewed as the culmination of intensive diplomatic efforts launched late last year by Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at a summit in Bali.

    In his Tuesday briefing with the President, Milley informed Biden the balloon appeared to be on a clear path into the continental United States, differentiating it from previous Chinese surveillance craft. The President appeared inclined at that point to take the balloon down, and asked Milley and other military officials to draw up options and contingencies.

    At the same time, Biden asked his national security team to take steps to prevent the balloon from being able to gather any intelligence – essentially, by making sure no sensitive military activity or unencrypted communications would be conducted in its vicinity, officials said.

    That evening, Pentagon officials met to review their military options. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, traveling abroad in Asia, participated virtually. NASA was also brought in to analyze and assess the potential debris field, based on the trajectory of the balloon, weather, and estimated payload. When options were presented to Biden on Wednesday, he directed his military leadership to shoot down the balloon as soon as they viewed it as a viable option, given concerns about risks to people and property on the ground.

    “Shoot it down,” Biden told his military advisers, he would later recount to reporters.

    But Austin and Milley told Biden the risks of shooting the balloon down were too high while it was moving over the US, given the chance debris could endanger lives or property on the ground below.

    “They said to me, ‘Let’s wait till the safest place to do it,’” Biden told reporters on Saturday

    Biden had another key request, though: he wanted the military to shoot down the balloon in such a way that it would maximize their ability to recover its payload, allowing the US intelligence community to sift through its components and gain insights into its capabilities, officials said. Shooting it down over water also increased the chances of being able to recover the payload intact, the officials said.

    While Beijing insisted on Friday that the balloon was simply a meteorological device that had strayed off course, the US government was confident that the balloons were being used for surveillance. Both the balloon discovered over the US and another spotted transiting Latin America carried surveillance equipment not usually associated with standard meteorological activities or civilian research, officials said – specifically, both featured collection pod equipment and solar panels located on the metal truss suspended below the balloon itself. The US also observed small motors and propellers on the balloons, leading officials to believe Beijing had some control over its path.

    US officials said the balloons were part of a fleet of Chinese spy balloons that have been spotted across five continents over the last several years.

    For the bulk of its journey across the US, the scramble to assess, monitor and eventually debilitate the balloon was kept to a close circle of Biden’s top national security advisers.

    But by the middle of the week, however, the mysterious white object floating above more populated areas of Montana was difficult to conceal. The balloon caused an hours-long grounding of commercial flights around Billings on Wednesday as the military worked to respond.

    And people starting looking up.

    Michael Alverson was working at the mines in Billings when he looked up and noticed a glowing orb in the sky. Realizing it couldn’t be the moon, he brought out his binoculars to take a closer look.

    “Me and my coworkers were shocked,” Alverson said. “It appeared to be a weather balloon – or so we thought.”

    Ashley McGowan told CNN she received a call from her neighbor wondering if she had heard jets flying about their neighborhood in Reed Point, Montana, on Wednesday. McGowan said she went outside with her dogs and saw a bright white dot in the sky.

    “What’s happening?” she recalled wondering. “Is this a UFO or is it like trash or is it the star? I had somebody try to tell me it was the green comet, I’m like that’s way too close to be the comet.”

    “This isn’t normal,” she remembered thinking. “There’s jets flying everywhere.”

    Officials attributed the decision to publicize the balloon’s existence to several factors, including the fact “that people were just going to see the damn thing,” one official acknowledged.

    As the military was fine tuning its options, a parallel effort was underway with the Chinese to assess the feasibility of Blinken making his highly anticipated visit to Beijing at a moment of fresh tension.

    Heading into the visit, White House officials had been cheered by more robust communications with China following Biden’s meeting with Xi late last year. After shutting down virtually all talks following then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last summit, the Chinese were finally back at the table – a critical step, in the eyes of Biden’s advisers, to maintaining stability in the world’s most important bilateral relationship.

    The balloon would dash all of it.

    US Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends a meeting with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Indonesia on July 9, 2022.

    On Wednesday evening, China’s top official in Washington was summoned to the State Department, where Blinken and Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman delivered “a very clear and stark message” about the discovery of the surveillance balloon, officials told CNN.

    Biden himself relayed to his top national security officials that he no longer believed the time was right for Blinken to visit Beijing, in part because the balloon would likely end up dominating his talks there.

    The trip was postponed hours before Blinken was due to board his plane.

    “In this current environment, I think it would have significantly narrowed the agenda that we would have been able to address,” a senior State Department official said.

    Republicans immediately moved to attack Biden for not shooting the balloon down immediately. The attacks, which came as Biden ignored questions on the issue throughout the day on Friday, served as an annoyance “that evolved into frustration,” inside the White House, one person familiar with the dynamic said.

    “This was a decision that was made at the recommendation of the Pentagon, for public safety reasons,” the person said in describing the rationale.

    Still, administration officials moved to brief key lawmakers and staff on Capitol Hill. That included briefings for the staff of the top Republicans and Democrats on the intelligence panels, as well as the top four congressional leaders – a group known as the Gang of 8.

    A formal briefing for the lawmakers in the Gang of 8 is scheduled to take place next week.

    Still, coming just ahead of Blinken’s travel to China, it was a move that officials across the administration said made little sense on its face and required a public and private response.

    US officials spoke to their Chinese counterparts throughout the week, making clear the balloon was likely to be shot down, an official said.

    Biden himself would be updated regularly over the course of the week, with his national security team providing updates on their conversations with Chinese counterparts and military officials presenting updated military options.

    US military and intelligence officials moved quickly to identify and close off any risks that may have extended from the balloon, though one official described them as “rather small to begin with,” given ongoing US efforts to mitigate spying threats from more sophisticated satellites.

    Another official also said US assets were immediately put into motion to monitor and collect any intelligence from the balloon as it followed its path through the US – including the scrambling of military aircraft as the balloon floated high above the central part of the country.

    Still, even without a direct threat to the American public, the widely held view inside the administration was that the balloon would need to be shot down, likely after it moved over open water.

    Waiting to carry out the operation allowed the US to “study and scrutinize” the balloon and its equipment, a senior Defense official said.

    “We have learned technical things about this balloon and its surveillance capabilities. And I suspect, if we are successful in recovering aspects of the debris, we will learn even more,” the official added.

    Officials also suggested that collecting debris from the balloon could be easier if it landed in water as opposed to on land.

    Government agencies worked throughout week to find the right place and right time to intercept the Chinese spy balloon, according to a government source familiar with the shoot-down plans. Earlier in the week, the Federal Aviation Administration had been told by the Pentagon to prepare options for shutting down airspace.

    A plan to shoot down the balloon was once again presented to Biden on Friday night while he was in Wilmington, where he approved the execution plan for Saturday.

    “We’re gonna take care of it,” Biden said later on the frigid tarmac Saturday in Syracuse, New York, where he was paying a brief visit to visit family.

    Government officials were told Friday night “decisions would be made (Saturday) morning” on when to close down airspace, and FAA officials were told to “be by the phone” early Saturday morning and “ready to roll.”

    Austin gave his final approval for the strike shortly after noon on Saturday from the tarmac in New York, according to a defense official. Austin had traveled north on Saturday for a funeral, but remained very engaged throughout the planning process and the operation, the official said.

    At about 1:30 p.m. ET, the FAA instituted one of the largest areas of restricted airspace in US history, more than five times the size of the restricted zone over Washington, DC, and roughly twice the size of the state of Massachusetts.

    The Temporary Flight Restriction – put in place at the request of the Pentagon, the FAA said – included about 150 miles of Atlantic coastline that effectively paralyzed three commercial airports: Wilmington in North Carolina and Myrtle Beach and Charleston in South Carolina.

    Biden had just taken off from Syracuse when fighter jets that had taken off from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia fired a single missile into the balloon.

    As its wreckage tumbled toward the Atlantic Ocean, Biden was on the phone with his national security team on Air Force One.

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  • Blinken postpones trip to China as balloon flies over U.S.

    Blinken postpones trip to China as balloon flies over U.S.

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    Secretary of State Antony Blinken has postponed a planned high-stakes weekend diplomatic trip to China as the Biden administration weighs a broader response to the discovery of a high-altitude Chinese balloon flying over sensitive sites in the western United States, two diplomatic sources tell CBS News. 

    The decision came despite China’s claim that the balloon was a weather research satellite that had blown off course. The U.S. has described it as a surveillance satellite. 

    The trip was called off just hours before Blinken was due to depart Washington for Beijing and heightened the strain on U.S.-Chinese relations. On Friday morning, Blinken told his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, that the trip would need to be postponed, but he intends to visit at a future date.

    By Friday morning, the balloon was no longer over Montana but had moved over the Midwest, according to a U.S. official. It’s not going to run out of fuel, since it has solar panels. The official also said that the balloon steers by rudder and is corkscrewing around to slow its progress over land, but the jet stream continues to move it on a trajectory across the U.S. The Pentagon is still considering ways to “dispose” of it but has “grave concerns” about the damage it would cause if it fell to earth. U.S. government lawyers regard this as a violation of U.S. air space.

    Blinken’s long-anticipated meetings with senior Chinese officials had been seen in both countries as a way to find some areas of common ground amid major disagreements over Taiwan, human rights, China’s claims in the South China Sea, North Korea, Russia’s war in Ukraine, trade policy and climate change.

    U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a joint press conference at the State Department in Washington, January 11, 2023.
    U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a joint press conference at the State Department in Washington, January 11, 2023.

    Reuters/Joshua Roberts


    Although the trip, which was agreed to in November by Mr. Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping at a summit in Indonesia, had not been formally announced, officials in both Beijing and Washington had been talking in recent days about Blinken’s imminent arrival. In November, Mr. Biden and Xi discussed maintaining “open lines of communication” amid increasing tensions between the countries. Mr. Biden has described the U.S. relationship with China as one of strategic competition. 

    The meetings were to begin on Sunday and go through Monday. 

    The discovery of the balloon was announced on Thursday by Pentagon officials who said one of the places where it was spotted was over the state of Montana, which is home to one of America’s three nuclear missile silo fields at Malmstrom Air Force Base.

    A senior defense official said the U.S. prepared fighter jets, including F-22s, to shoot down the balloon, if ordered. The Pentagon ultimately recommended against it, noting that even though the balloon was over a sparsely populated area of Montana, its size would create a debris field large enough to put people at risk.

    China, which angrily denounces surveillance attempts by the U.S. and others over areas it considers to be its territory and once forced down an American spy plane, offered a generally muted reaction to the Pentagon announcement.

    In a relatively conciliatory statement, the Chinese foreign ministry said late Friday that the balloon was a civilian airship used mainly for meteorological research. The ministry said the airship has limited “self-steering” capabilities and “deviated far from its planned course” because of winds.

    “The Chinese side regrets the unintended entry of the airship into U.S. airspace due to force majeure,” the statement said, citing a legal term used to refer to events beyond one’s control.

    The balloon incident also comes as government officials throughout the U.S. are cracking down on TikTok — a hugely popular social media app owned by Chinese company ByteDance — over fears of spying. 

    China has also conducted large-scale military drills after U.S. lawmakers, including then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, visited Taiwan last year. The Chinese government has opposed any action it sees as getting in the way of its efforts to reunify the self-governing island. 

    And the House of Representatives recently established a new committee on China, focusing on its competition with the U.S. and international influence. 

    David Martin, Margaret Brennan, Christina Ruffini, Caitlin Yilek and Kathryn Watson contributed to this report.

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  • Balloon drama comes at precarious time in US-China relations | CNN Politics

    Balloon drama comes at precarious time in US-China relations | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Secretary of State Antony Blinken had no choice.

    Diplomatically and for domestic political reasons, it would have been impossible to go ahead with a planned visit to China in the coming days as what US officials have described as a Chinese surveillance balloon floated across the US.

    The drama dashed an attempt by the Biden administration to take some of the heat out of tense US-China relations. And it is yet another incident that will fuel a sense in Washington and Beijing that the world’s strongest superpower and its rising rival are heading toward an inevitable confrontation.

    China took the rare step of expressing regret for the “unintended entry” of what it called a meteorological civilian airship into US airspace.

    “The Chinese side will continue communicating with the US side and properly handle this unexpected situation caused by force majeure,” the Foreign Ministry in Beijing said in a statement.

    Had Blinken gone to Beijing, his visit would have been dominated by the balloon incident to the detriment of other key issues in the relationship, including Taiwan and economic clashes. But politically, with Republicans up in arms over the incident, going ahead with the visit would have made President Joe Biden’s administration look like it wasn’t being sufficiently tough on China. Domestic politics in both Washington and Beijing play an important role in defining what is often described as the world’s most crucial diplomatic relationship.

    The Pentagon says it’s been tracking the balloon – the size of three buses, according to a defense official – for several days but made the decision not to shoot it down. It reasoned that the balloon was wafting well above commercial and military air lanes – and that it was not a huge intelligence threat.

    This seems a reasonable position since Chinese surveillance satellites with a far greater capacity for espionage are known to hover in space over the US. And officials said it’s not the first time the US has tracked one of Beijing’s balloons during this and previous administrations.

    This is hardly a DEFCON-1 situation. But the balloon offers a perfect glimpse into one of the most destructive factors driving the US and China toward confrontation. The politics of the world’s most critical geopolitical relationship are so torqued in both countries that any incident can set off a new round of recriminations. That’s what Blinken was traveling to Beijing to address.

    Washington is already in an uproar.

    Republicans – always keen to portray Biden as soft on China, even though he’s actually been at least as tough as ex-President Donald Trump – are up in arms over what they are portraying as a violation of US sovereignty.

    Retired colonel has a theory about why suspected Chinese spy balloon is over Montana

    “Information strongly suggests the (Defense) Department failed to act with urgency in responding to this airspace incursion by a high-altitude surveillance balloon. No incursion should be ignored, and should be dealt with appropriately,” said Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

    House Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy – who has already warned China this week it can’t stop him visiting Taiwan if he wants – demanded a briefing about the balloon for the Gang of Eight congressional leaders.

    “China’s brazen disregard for US sovereignty is a destabilizing action that must be addressed and President Biden cannot be silent,” the California Republican said.

    It is fair to wonder why China sent a surveillance balloon over the US before Blinken’s critical visit, with both sides apparently keen to arrest the dangerous plummet in their relations. It seems far less likely this is a deliberate provocation since there’s reason to think China wants to turn down the heat too. Perhaps Beijing lost control of its balloon. Still, if a US balloon was being blown across the Chinese mainland right now, it’s likely President Xi Jinping’s government would wring maximum propaganda value out of the incident.

    China’s Foreign Ministry said Friday it was aware of reports of the incident but warned against “deliberate speculation.”

    “China is a responsible country. We act in accordance with international law. We have no intention in violating other countries’ airspace. We hope relevant parties would handle the matter in a cool-headed way,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said.

    Meanwhile, Canada said on Thursday evening it is also tracking the balloon’s movements and working with their American partners, including the monitoring of a potential second incident.

    Going into the Blinken talks, there had seemed to be a small window to improve relations between the long, tense period that led up to Xi’s norm-busting securing of a third term in office, which may have contributed to a nationalistic Chinese attitude that worsened tensions with the US, and the next American presidential election. (White House races almost always degenerate into China bashing that angers Beijing.)

    But the atmosphere around the talks had already been soured by a memo by US Air Force Gen. Michael Minihan first reported by NBC last week, which warned that his “gut” tells him to be ready for war with China – and not just in theory, but in two years. That prediction doesn’t track with US government assessments of the geopolitical tussle in the Pacific or necessarily with events in the region. But it showed how isolated events can send Sino-US tensions soaring.

    Now, floating over that inflammatory atmosphere, we have a Chinese surveillance balloon. This incident may well turn out to be innocuous, but it’s another small drama that has not only ruined Blinken’s trip but will further fan the political flames that elevate hawks in Washington and Beijing who see what they want to see – an inevitable march toward conflict – and make that dangerous scenario more likely.

    This story has been updated with additional details.

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  • China’s suspected spy balloon prompts Blinken to postpone Beijing trip as Congress seeks answers

    China’s suspected spy balloon prompts Blinken to postpone Beijing trip as Congress seeks answers

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    WASHINGTON –U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will postpone his trip to China next week following a suspected Beijing-operated spy balloon looming over parts of Montana.

    “After consultations with our interagency partners, as well as with Congress, we have concluded that the conditions are not right at this moment for Secretary Blinken to travel to China,” a senior State Department official said Friday on a background briefing with reporters.

    Blinken, who was slated to depart for Beijing on Friday evening, was scheduled to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Minister of Foreign Affairs Qin Gang, and potentially Chinese President Xi Jinping, as well.

    The official declined to say when Blinken would reschedule his travel to China, saying only that the department would “determine when the conditions are right.”

    Chinese authorities said Friday that the balloon operating over U.S. airspace was a civilian weather balloon intended for scientific research. But the State Department said that was immaterial.

    “We have noted the PRC statement of regret, but the presence of this balloon in our airspace is a clear violation of our sovereignty as well as international law and is unacceptable that this has occurred,” the official said.

    While Blinken has postponed his travel, the U.S. and China have not suspended communication over the incident.

    “From the moment this incident occurred, we have been in regular and frequent contact with our Chinese counterparts and I do anticipate that will continue,” said the State Department official, who asked not to be identified to discuss a sensitive intelligence matter.

    China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that westerly winds had caused the airship to stray into U.S. territory, describing the incident as a result of “force majeure” — or greater force — for which it was not responsible. “The airship comes from China and is of a civilian nature, used for scientific research such as meteorology,” according to a Google translation of a statement on the foreign ministry’s website.

    On Thursday, a senior U.S. defense official told reporters that the U.S. was aware of the balloon and was confident that it was China’s.

    The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as ground rules established by the Pentagon, added that President Joe Biden was briefed on the matter. Following consultations with senior leaders, including Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Biden decided the U.S. would not shoot down the balloon, the official said.

    “We had been looking at whether there was an option yesterday over some sparsely populated areas in Montana,” said the official, who noted it was decided the possible debris field from the balloon could cause damage on the ground and that its intelligence collection potential has “limited additive value” compared with Chinese spy satellites.

    “We wanted to take care that somebody didn’t get hurt or property wasn’t destroyed,” said the official, who noted that the balloon does not pose a threat to civil aviation because of its high altitude.

    On Capitol Hill, members of Congress sounded alarms and sought more information from the Biden administration.

    House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Ca., said he had requested a briefing for the so-called “Gang of Eight,” the Republican and Democratic leaders of both the House and Senate, and the leaders from both parties of the Senate and House intelligence committees. 

    Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., who represents the state where the balloon was first identified, said he is in contact with Defense Department and intelligence officials over the matter, but expressed frustration at the lack of detail.

    “We are still waiting for real answers on how this happened and what steps the Administration took to protect our country, and I will hold everyone accountable until I get them,” Tester said in a statement Friday.

    The Senate was not in a full session Friday, but Tester’s office said he will receive a classified briefing in a secure facility as soon as he returns to Washington.

    Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the military should have shot down the balloon.

    “It was a mistake to not shoot down that Chinese spy balloon when it was over a sparsely populated area,” Rubio tweeted on Friday.

    “This is not some hot air balloon, it has a large payload of sensors roughly the size of two city buses & the ability to maneuver independently,” Rubio added.

    This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

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  • Families of US detainees in China urge Blinken to make them ‘number one’ priority on his trip | CNN Politics

    Families of US detainees in China urge Blinken to make them ‘number one’ priority on his trip | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Harrison Li and Katherine Swidan both worry they may never see their loved ones again.

    Kai Li – Harrison Li’s father – and Mark Swidan – Katherine Swidan’s son – are both Americans who have been imprisoned for years in China, and both have been designated by the US State Department as wrongfully detained.

    Now, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken expected to visit China in the next few days, Harrison Li and Katherine Swidan hope that securing their freedom will be a top priority.

    “It’s got to be the number one thing,” Swidan told CNN.

    Harrison Li, whose father has been detained since 2016 and is serving a ten-year prison sentence on espionage charges, told CNN his father is worried about the spread of Covid in his prison amid the surge in China, particularly because he is not vaccinated. Kai Li’s father recently died from complications related to Covid, Harrison Li said.

    “How many more people is my dad not going to see again? Or God forbid, is my dad going to come home in a box?” he asked. “I just don’t know at this point and given the conditions and the situation in China, it’s actually quite scary.”

    “Our government needs to hear that and act urgently before it’s too late,” Harrison Li told CNN.

    Harrison Li said he and the other families have “learned to keep our expectations as low as possible because not to do that will inevitably lead to disappointment,” he said. But they at least want Blinken to raise the names of their family members and push for their release.

    “The US government needs to be prepared to make a fair and reasonable offer and negotiate for the release of these Americans being wrongfully held just like they have with the Americans being held in other countries,” Harrison Li said.

    A US senior administration official told CNN that the cases of the wrongful detainees – including Mark Swidan, Kai Li, and David Lin – are front and center as Blinken prepares for his trip to Beijing.

    The administration knows that the Chinese are likely looking to “extract a price” from the US on the matter, the official said, adding that the administration is willing to pay “steep prices” to get Americans home, the senior administration official said. However, there do not appear to be active negotiations underway to come to an agreement.

    A State Department spokesperson would not say if Blinken will raise the cases by name, telling CNN, “We will not preview the details of sensitive diplomatic conversations, but in any country where US nationals are wrongfully detained, we raise those cases at every opportunity.”

    “Secretary Blinken affirmed that he is personally focused on and prioritizes bringing home US nationals wrongfully detained in the PRC,” the spokesperson said. “We will continue to advocate on behalf of wrongfully detained US citizens in the PRC and work to support their families. Officials at every level of this administration continually advocate for the release of US citizens wrongfully detained in the PRC.”

    Meanwhile, Katherine Swidan said she hasn’t seen her son’s face since he was detained in 2012 on drug-related charges. Instead, Mark has spent more than a decade detained in what his mother describes as a “holding tank,” where she says he has undergone physical and psychological torture and has attempted suicide.

    He was sentenced to death in 2019. A UN working group has determined that his detention is arbitrary and called for his immediate release.

    “He’s been in there for 10 years, where they never turn the lights off, so as a result, he’s going blind. He’s got fractures in his leg,” she said, telling CNN that guards at the facility “broke his hands five to seven times.”

    “He’s suffering and he’s got an infection. He has severe periodontal disease. He has holes in his mouth that bleed constantly. He’s lost 130 pounds. And there is no indication that they’re going to allow a visit” by any US officials, Katherine Swidan said.

    She told CNN that her son has sent letters describing the horrors he has seen, and in one of his most recent letters he told his mother, “I will come home in the box of ashes or I will come home on a plane walking off to you but I will come home.”

    “As a mom, it kills me a little bit every day,” Katherine Swidan said. “I’m a perfect example of how your heart can actually break in little pieces every single day.”

    “I refuse to accept that the most powerful country on Earth cannot get Mark home,” she added.

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  • Blinken under pressure to push China on role in lethal fentanyl trade when he visits Beijing | CNN Politics

    Blinken under pressure to push China on role in lethal fentanyl trade when he visits Beijing | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Members of Congress are urging Secretary of State Antony Blinken to pressure China to do more to curb the flow of fentanyl and synthetic opioids into the United States on his visit to the country which is expected to take place in the next few days.

    On Wednesday, a group of 14 Republican senators led by Marco Rubio of Florida wrote to Blinken ahead of his trip highlighting China’s role in the “fentanyl crisis” as one of many issues they wanted him to address.

    More than 100,000 Americans died of drug overdoses from July of 2021 to July of 2022 and two thirds of those deaths were fueled by synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl, according to the CDC.

    An extremely powerful synthetic drug, fentanyl is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine and 30 to 50 times more potent than heroin.

    The Chinese government cracked down on the manufacture and distribution of fentanyl in 2019, in a move that was hailed by the Trump administration. As a result, China it is no longer the primary source of fentanyl getting into the US. But it’s still the key source of precursor chemicals which are often shipped to Mexico and used by cartels to produce fentanyl which is brought over the border.

    “China is the leading producer of these precursor chemicals and is shipping and selling them to the two major Mexican cartels (Sinaloa and New Generation) producing fentanyl,” explained David Luckey, a senior international and defense researcher at RAND Corporation.

    “Virtually 98% of the precursor chemicals that are made used to make fentanyl are coming from China,” Democratic Rep. David Trone of Maryland told CNN. Getting China to engage on this crisis “has got to be Secretary Blinken’s number one mission when he gets there.”

    Experts and lawmakers say the production of precursor chemicals in China is a primary factor fueling the ongoing opioid crisis.

    “Synthetic opioid trafficking is an area where even a few meaningful steps from the PRC (People’s Republic of China) can play a significant role in combating this worsening epidemic and saving American lives,” Trone wrote in a letter to Blinken last month. He urged Blinken not to negotiate with Chinese officials on other topics until he has secured a commitment from Beijing to do more to stem the fentanyl crisis.

    Trone, whose nephew died of a fentanyl overdose, believes China should commit to adopting rules requiring drug companies to know who their customers are, put into place and enforce export regulations on the chemical sector, and cooperate with US agencies including the Drug Enforcement Administration and Office of National Drug Control Policy to crack down on the fentanyl trade.

    Blinken has directed his team at the State Department to work with interagency partners to do “everything possible” to address this deadly crisis which is the leading killer of Americans between the ages of 18 to 49, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said earlier this year.

    But it’s unclear what direct asks he will make of the Chinese government during his visit.

    “Though its past action has helped to counter illicit synthetic drugs, we continue to urge the PRC to take additional meaningful concrete action to curb the diversion of precursor chemicals and equipment used by criminals to manufacture fentanyl and other synthetic drugs,” Price said.

    Some lawmakers believe that Blinken should offer trade talks with China if it engages on efforts related to stemming the fentanyl crisis. Yet other congressional aides say that China will only respond to pressure and believe that the administration should consider steps including additional sanctions related to the dangerous substances – to force their engagement.

    Todd Robinson, the top State Department official for international narcotics and law enforcement affairs, said that the effective way to approach the challenge will be through “collaboration and cooperation.”

    “China has its own problems with narcotics. Mexico has problems has its problems with narcotics. Colombia also has a problem. And what we’ve been saying is, this is no longer an issue where you can solely use one or the other. Everybody’s got a problem.”

    But the need for Chinese engagement is clear: reducing the supply of precursor chemicals from China would have a “huge” impact on the crisis and would “mean a dramatic decrease” in US deaths resulting from drug overdoses, Robinson said.

    China is the largest producer of chemicals that are in everyday products such as cleaning supplies. Many Chinese companies have begun producing and selling the precursor chemicals in addition to the chemicals they have already been producing.

    Challenges to tackling the root of the problem persist when China and other countries often turn the tables on the US and blame Americans for the addiction problem which drives the demand.

    “It’s not as simple as saying, ‘China, stop producing and exporting these chemicals’. There are several sides to this issue. In response, China, for example, could counter with, ‘Americans, stop buying and using drugs,’” said Luckey.

    Many Americans with a direct connection to the crisis are watching Blinken’s trip closely.

    West Virginia – which had more than 1,300 deaths due to synthetic opioids from March of 2021 to March of 2022, according to the CDC – is an epicenter of the domestic crisis.

    Jordan Dennison lives in the state, grew up with parents who were drug addicts, and developed his own opioid addiction in his teens. A few years ago – after more than 10 overdoses – he finally got clean. The 30-year-old now works at an outreach program to get addicts into treatment.

    “Drugs led me to lose everything. Every relationship I ever had. I came to learn that what I was using was not heroine it was fentanyl. I was getting it off the street, I would go anywhere to get it,” he told CNN. “I never knew where it came from, but I always assumed it was coming from China.”

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  • US imposes visa restrictions on Taliban members involved in repression of women and girls | CNN Politics

    US imposes visa restrictions on Taliban members involved in repression of women and girls | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    The United States is imposing new visa restrictions on certain current and former Taliban members, non-state security group members and others who are believed to be involved in repressing the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Wednesday.

    The announcement comes more than a month after the Taliban announced bans on women attending universities and working with non-governmental organizations. Blinken cited those decisions as contributing to the new visa bans and said the US condemns the actions in “the strongest of terms.”

    “The Taliban’s most recent edicts ban women from universities and from working with NGOs, and further the Taliban’s previous measures that closed secondary schools to girls and limit the ability of women and girls to participate in the Afghan society and economy,” Blinken said in a State Department statement.

    “Through these decisions, the Taliban have again shown their disregard for the welfare of the Afghan people,” he added.

    The State Department statement did not name those who are impacted by the move.

    Blinken referenced other actions by the Taliban that have undermined the rights of women and girls since the group took control of the country after the chaotic US military withdrawal in 2021.

    “So far, the Taliban’s actions have forced over one million school-aged Afghan girls and young women out of the classroom, with more women out of universities and countless Afghan women out of the workforce. These numbers will only grow as time goes on, worsening the country’s already dire economic and humanitarian crises,” Blinken said.

    Deeming equal access to education and work an “essential component to the vitality and resiliency of entire populations,” Blinken said these steps will hurt the Taliban’s standing globally.

    “The Taliban cannot expect the respect and support of the international community until they respect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Afghans, including women and girls,” Blinken said.

    Blinken committed once again to working alongside allies to impose “significant costs” on the Taliban’s actions.

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  • What happens to Europe when the balloon goes up?

    What happens to Europe when the balloon goes up?

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    BERLIN — The saga of the Chinese spy balloon has plunged relations between Washington and Beijing into fresh crisis. For European governments, that spells all kinds of trouble.

    With relations worsening between the two superpowers, EU leaders seem likely to come under intensifying pressure from the White House to pick sides and join forces against China, just as they were hoping for a thaw in tricky relations with Beijing. 

    And then there’s the war. 

    Russia is preparing a major offensive in Ukraine over the next few weeks but EU diplomats fear the balloon incident risks distracting President Joe Biden’s team at exactly the moment when American support for Kyiv will be needed most. 

    “We never expected 2023 to be easy, but this is off to a really tough start,” one European diplomat said. 

    On Saturday, the U.S. shot down what it identified as a Chinese surveillance balloon off the coast of South Carolina with an air-to-air missile from an F-22 stealth fighter jet. 

    Secretary of State Antony Blinken indefinitely postponed a visit to Beijing that had been scheduled for this week, the first such trip planned for a U.S. cabinet-level official under Biden’s presidency.

    Images of the incident have circulated in dramatic video footage on social media, taken mostly by excited onlookers cheering the theatrical show of military might.

    Beijing insists the giant solar panel-powered object was a “civilian airship” that went off course while conducting “mainly meteorological” research. In response to the missile strike, the Chinese government expressed “strong dissatisfaction” and protested against the use of force by the U.S. to attack the unmanned, civilian craft. It added that it would “reserve the right to take further necessary responses.”

    U.S. foreign policy, while still heavily invested in supporting Ukraine militarily, may be distracted by the sharpening clashes with Beijing. Right-wing U.S. politicians have been calling for more attention on China since Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago. 

    As the “U.S.-China rivalry sharpens, there will be more pressure on Europeans, whose approach to China is very diverse, to pick sides,” said Ricardo Borges de Castro, head of the Europe in the World Program at the European Policy Centre, a Brussels-based think tank. “The reality is, if the world becomes increasingly dominated by two poles — U.S. and China — the EU and Europeans will need to pick sides for as long as Europe’s security and defense depends on the U.S. umbrella.”

    Russia, in the meantime, is expected to launch massive offensives in just a few weeks, when the harshest winter season comes to an end, according to Ukrainian officials.

    A plane flies past the Chinese spy balloon (top right) | Nell Redmond/EPA

    “Washington will be busy with Beijing for some time now,” a senior EU diplomat said on Sunday. “It’s not goodnews for the EU because Russia is still the main concern.”

    Bad timing

    For Europe, the incident also comes at an inconvenient moment as senior officials have been preparing to re-engage with Beijing.

    The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, is understood to be making plans for a trip to Beijing in April, when he would also be expected to travel to Japan for a G7 ministerial meeting. Separately, French President Emmanuel Macron has also announced his intention to meet President Xi Jinping in the Chinese capital early this year; he would be interested in taking a top official from the European Commission to join him, according to an official with knowledge of the plans.

    The latest U.S.-China flare-up “means that we would now have to be watching how badly China reacts, and whether these [planned] trips will be treated as a propaganda success by Beijing in splitting up the transatlantic ties,” a diplomat said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak on this subject.

    “In the wake of the Ukraine war, the China policy coordination between both sides of the [the Atlantic is] losing steam,” said Reinhard Bütikofer, chair of the European Parliament’s delegation on relations with China. “While Washington D.C. enhances pressure against Beijing particularly on the technological front and in the Taiwan context, Brussels, Berlin and Paris show new hesitancy.” 

    Further complicating matters is Beijing’s apparent lack of interest in helping the West put pressure on Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine.

    Worse, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, China has emerged as the dominant supplier of dual-use goods to Russia, providing technology that Moscow’s military needs to prosecute its invasion. Chinese state-owned defense companies have shipped navigation equipment, jamming technology and fighter-jet parts to sanctioned Russian government-owned defense companies, according to the article.

    European leaders have repeatedly warned Beijing not to aid Moscow militarily.

    China’s top foreign policy official, Wang Yi, has dropped a plan to visit Brussels even though he would be traveling to Germany for the Munich Security Conference in February, two diplomats told POLITICO. 

    Europe’s reaction to the balloon incident was muted. The EU merely noted the U.S.’s right to defend its airspace. “Safety and protection of airspace is an issue of national security and therefore a competence, responsibility and prerogative” of the specific state or states involved, an EU spokesperson said on Sunday. 

    China’s Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu visited Moscow last week to reassure his Russian counterparts | Johannes Eisele/ AFP via Getty Images

    Few European countries supported the Biden administration’s decision in public, highlighting a general sense of reluctance to aggravate Beijing. One of the exceptions was Estonia, where Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu, retweeting a BBC report about the balloon’s downing, said: “I support USA operation to defend its sovereignty. I fully condemn provocations jeopardising USA national security.”

    Other U.S. allies did not hold back. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau praised the operation, tweeting “Canada strongly supports this action — we’ll keep working together … on our security and defense.”

    South Korea’s Foreign Minister Park Jin, during a visit to Washington, said “I sufficiently understand the decision to postpone Secretary [Blinken]’s visit to China and I think that China should make a swift and very sincere explanation about what happened.”

    Tom Tugendhat, U.K. security minister and a long-time skeptic of Beijing, called for concern over other forms of Chinese threats. “Worried about being spied on from the sky? Look at what some apps are collecting on your phone and consider your cyber security. Some risks are much closer to home,” he tweeted.  

    EU foreign policy in 2023 may be defined by which of these expires first: European  indecision over China, or America’s appetite for providing Europe’s defense. 

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    Stuart Lau

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  • Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits Middle East amid escalating violence in Israel

    Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits Middle East amid escalating violence in Israel

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    Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits Middle East amid escalating violence in Israel – CBS News


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    Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Jerusalem to meet with Israel’s new far-right government. The visit comes amid escalating violence in east Jerusalem. Imtiaz Tyab reports.

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  • Blinken to visit Israel and West Bank amid outbreak in violence

    Blinken to visit Israel and West Bank amid outbreak in violence

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    Blinken to visit Israel and West Bank amid outbreak in violence – CBS News


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    CBS News foreign correspondent Imtiaz Tyab reports from Jerusalem ahead of a visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is traveling to Israel and the West Bank amid an outbreak of violence that has raised security concerns in the region.

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  • Blinken to visit Israel and West Bank with tensions high after outbreak of violence | CNN Politics

    Blinken to visit Israel and West Bank with tensions high after outbreak of violence | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to Jerusalem and Ramallah next week has gained new urgency after a wave of deadly violence in Israel and the West Bank.

    His trip, which also includes a stop in Egypt, was already expected to be complicated, as it will be the top US diplomat’s first visit to Israel since the new Israeli government, which includes ultra-nationalists and ultra-religious parties, took power.

    Now, Blinken is poised to face a rapidly escalating crisis that shows no signs of de-escalation.

    At least seven people were killed in a mass shooting at a synagogue in Jerusalem Friday that is being described as a terrorist attack. Israeli police said the gunman, who was killed by police, was a 21-year-old resident of East Jerusalem who appeared to have acted alone.

    On Thursday, Israeli forces killed nine Palestinians and wounded several others in a raid on a refugee camp in the West Bank city of Jenin. Another Palestinian man was shot dead by Israeli troops later that day in the town of al-Ram, adding to the death toll on what was the deadliest day for Palestinians in the West Bank in over a year, according to CNN records. Then overnight on Friday Israel launched air strikes on Gaza after rockets were fired towards Israel.

    The Palestinian Authority responded to the Jenin raid by announcing that it will cease security coordination with Israel starting immediately.

    While US officials have indicated that the days of violence will not upend the top diplomat’s trip, the White House on Friday condemned the “heinous terror attack” on the synagogue and State Department officials on Thursday expressed concern about the security situation following the Jenin raid.

    “There is the potential for things to worsen in security terms, in terms of protests or any other kind of kinetic action,” Barbara Leaf, the top State Department official for the region, told reporters on Thursday ahead of the synagogue shooting, adding that the department is in close touch with diplomatic and security personnel on the ground. She also urged the two sides to retain and deepen security coordination.

    The Biden administration has been careful in its language and sought to publicly avoid criticizing the new government in Israel, which is led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and includes controversial far-right government ministers. Over the past few weeks, US officials have held numerous engagements with the new government – Blinken’s trip follows visits by national security adviser Jake Sullivan and CIA Director Bill Burns. Israel is one of the US’s staunchest allies and the importance of the relationship was underlined earlier this week as the two nations launched their largest joint military exercise ever on Monday.

    Aaron David Miller, who served for two decades at the State Department as an analyst, negotiator and adviser on Middle East issues, told CNN that he has “never seen an administration engage with a new Israeli Government as frequently and as early and at as senior level as this one.”

    “I think their strategy was basically to say, ‘OK, you formed this government, your hands are on the wheel. You told us you’re in charge, and we’re now going to engage with you directly and intensely. Because if things head south, you’re the one who’s going to have to be responsible with respect to controlling your own ministers,’” he said. Miller said he predicts the relationship between the two administrations will be publicly non-confrontational, especially as Biden looks to ensure he is seen as pro-Israel ahead of a potential US reelection campaign.

    The far-right elements of the new Israeli government, meanwhile, have already exacerbated tensions between Israelis and Palestinians.

    The new national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir has previously been convicted for supporting terrorism and inciting anti-Arab racism. Earlier this year, after being named minister, he visited the Jerusalem compound known as Temple Mount by Jews and the Haram al-Sharif or Noble Sanctuary by Muslims, in a move that drew international condemnation.

    Although he visited during open hours for non-Muslims, his visit was seen as controversial because Ben Gvir has publicly called for changes to the delicate status quo agreement that governs the compound.

    State Department spokesman Ned Price responded at the time by saying that the US believed the visit has “the potential to exacerbate tensions and to provoke violence.”

    Although the Biden administration has advocated for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, there has been very little movement and seemingly few active efforts toward that goal. It is something that Blinken will address during his meetings with Israelis and Palestinians, said Leaf, the State Department official.

    Miller said he does not expect any progress to be made on this issue during Blinken’s visit, which will instead be more of an “extended condolence call” due to the synagogue attack in Jerusalem Friday.

    Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president of the advocacy group J-Street, which pushes for a two-state solution, said that he believes Blinken’s trip is well-timed, and sends an important message about American involvement.

    He said the administration should try to articulate both privately to the new Israeli government as well as publicly the things that the US would find unacceptable, such as “plans for what amounts to de facto annexation of territory on the West Bank.”

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  • Greece to hold elections in spring, Mitsotakis says

    Greece to hold elections in spring, Mitsotakis says

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    ATHENS — Greece will hold parliamentary elections in the spring, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Sunday, specifying “from April onwards” ahead of the conservative government’s term ending in July.

    The next Greek elections will be held under a proportional representation system, which makes it almost impossible for any candidate to win outright; and a second round of voting is taken for granted — indicating an extended period of political uncertainty.

    Mitsotakis said that he hasn’t made up his mind whether the elections would take place in April or May. “From April and onwards, the elections can be held at any time,” he told local newspaper Proto Thema in an interview published on Sunday.

    Turkey’s presidential and parliamentary elections are scheduled for June 18, but the government in Ankara is considering holding them earlier. “Since this date corresponds with summer holiday season when people are travelling, we are evaluating bringing the date slightly forward,” ruling AK Party spokesperson Omer Celik said earlier this month. The possible earlier election dates circulating in the Turkish press are April 30, May 7 and May 14.

    Ankara has stepped up its rhetoric against Greece in recent months, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan even warning in December that a missile could hit the Greek capital unless “you stay calm.” Increased pre-electoral tensions are possible in the region as the two elections more or less coincide.

    On Saturday during a tour in the northern Evros region, near the land border with Turkey, the Greek prime minister said that “elections will be held in the spring, essentially at a point when we will have practically exhausted our four-year term.” He added that he would run as a candidate in Evros for symbolic reasons.

    U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will likely visit Greece, Turkey and Israel late next month, ahead of the elections in the region, according to Greek media reports.

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    Nektaria Stamouli

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  • US slams Taliban for women’s NGO jobs ban in Afghanistan

    US slams Taliban for women’s NGO jobs ban in Afghanistan

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    KABUL, Afghanistan — The U.S. has condemned the Taliban for ordering non-governmental groups in Afghanistan to stop employing women, saying the ban will disrupt vital and life-saving assistance to millions.

    The Taliban takeover last year sent Afghanistan’s economy into a tailspin and transformed the country, driving millions into poverty and hunger. Foreign aid stopped almost overnight. Sanctions on Taliban rulers, a halt on bank transfers and frozen billions in Afghanistan’s currency reserves have already restricted access to global institutions and the outside money that supported the country’s aid-dependent economy before the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces.

    “Women are central to humanitarian operations around the world,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday. “This decision could be devastating for the Afghan people.”

    The NGO order came in a letter from Economy Minister Qari Din Mohammed Hanif. It said any organization found not complying with the order will have their operating license revoked in Afghanistan. It is the latest blow to female rights and freedoms since the Taliban seized power last year and follows sweeping restrictions on education, employment, clothing and travel.

    The flurry of edicts from the all-male and religiously driven Taliban government are reminiscent of their rule in the late 1990s, when they banned women from education and public spaces and outlawed music, television and many sports.

    The U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was deeply disturbed by reports of the NGO ban.

    “The United Nations and its partners, including national and international non-governmental organizations, are helping more than 28 million Afghans who depend on humanitarian aid to survive,” he said in a statement.

    Aid agencies and NGOs are expected to make a statement Sunday.

    The Economy Ministry’s order comes days after the Taliban banned female students from attending universities across the country, triggering backlash overseas and demonstrations in major Afghan cities.

    At around midnight Saturday in the western city of Herat, where earlier protesters were dispersed with water cannons, people opened their windows and chanted “Allahu Akbar (God is great)” in solidarity with female students.

    In the southern city of Kandahar, also on Saturday, hundreds of male students boycotted their final semester exams at Mirwais Neeka University. One of them told The Associated Press that Taliban forces tried to break up the crowd as they left the exam hall.

    “They tried to disperse us so we chanted slogans, then others joined in with the slogans,” said Akhbari, who only gave his last name. “We refused to move and the Taliban thought we were protesting. The Taliban started shooting their rifles into the air. I saw two guys being beaten, one of them to the head.”

    A spokesman for the Kandahar provincial governor, Ataullah Zaid, denied there was a protest. There were some people who were pretending to be students and teachers, he said, but they were stopped by students and security forces.

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  • Some U.S. officials express concern over Brittney Griner prisoner swap

    Some U.S. officials express concern over Brittney Griner prisoner swap

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    Some U.S. officials express concern over Brittney Griner prisoner swap – CBS News


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    The Biden administration is receiving some criticism for the release of convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout as part of a prisoner swap for WNBA star Brittney Griner. Some U.S. officials are worried about the national security implications of Bout’s return to Russia. CBS News chief national affairs and justice correspondent Jeff Pegues discusses the situation.

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  • Blinken confident in Finland, Sweden accession to NATO

    Blinken confident in Finland, Sweden accession to NATO

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    WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday the United States is confident that Finland and Sweden will be approved soon for membership in NATO despite ratification delays in allies Turkey and Hungary.

    After meeting his Finnish and Swedish counterparts on Thursday, Blinken said both countries had proved their bona fides to join the alliance, notably in joining NATO in providing support to Ukraine to counter Russia’s invasion.

    Nearly all of NATO’s 30 members have already approved Finland and Sweden’s applications to join the alliance, which were made after Russia launched its war in Ukraine. Turkey and Hungary are the only two to not yet have ratified Finland and Sweden’s accession.

    “Both countries have taken significant, concrete actions to fulfill their commitments, including those related to the security concerns on the part of our ally, Turkey,” Blinken said. “As their membership process continues, the United States is fully committed to Finland and Sweden’s accession.”

    But Blinken said he believed Turkey’s concerns, notably with Sweden over its past support for Kurdish groups that Ankara sees as a threat, would be overcome in the near future. Sweden this week extradited a convicted member of the Kurdish PKK militant group to Turkey. Hungary’s parliament is expected to vote on NATO expansion early next year.

    “I’m confident that NATO will formally welcome Finland and Sweden as members soon,” he told reporters at a joint news conference at the State Department with Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom and Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto.

    Blinken took the opportunity to say that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to go to war with Ukraine had backfired if he truly intended to push back on NATO expansion.

    “As Sweden and Finland prepare to join NATO, we know that he’s failed at weakening our alliance,” he said. “Indeed, he’s only made NATO stronger and bigger.”

    Haavisto said discussions with Turkey over the PKK have gone well so far, although there was still not a date for the Turkish parliament to consider the expansion.

    “Of course, our hope is that this decision should come from Turkey rather sooner than later,” he said.

    Billstrom said he would soon travel to Turkey to continue talks on the matter. “I hope that the outcome of that discussion will also bring us forward,” he said.

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  • Pakistan slams US for religious freedom violator listing

    Pakistan slams US for religious freedom violator listing

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    ISLAMABAD — Pakistan on Thursday slammed the U.S. State Department’s listing last week of the South Asian country as one of “particular concern” regarding religious freedoms.

    Washington grouped Pakistan along with 11 other countries — including China, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and North Korea — as being states that have “engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom.”

    The announcement was made by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

    Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday described the qualification as “detached from realties on the ground.”

    A ministry spokesperson also expressed concern that India, which Islamabad maintains is “notorious for violation of religious freedoms of minorities” was not on the list.

    Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, the spokesperson, in her weekly briefing expressed disappointment over the U.S. move, calling it a “unilateral and arbitrary designation.”

    “Pakistan has a multi-religious and pluralistic society with a rich tradition of inter-faith harmony,” Baloch said, adding that religious freedom and protection of the rights of minorities are guaranteed under the country’s constitution.

    She added that Islamabad has conveyed its concerns to Washington over the designation.

    Though it was included in the same listing previously, last year Pakistan was for the first time not designated as a “country of particular concern” over religious issues.

    Islamabad typically makes the list on the grounds that it has failed to reform the country’s controversial blasphemy laws. The mere rumor of insulting Islam can incite mobs and spark lynching in Pakistan.

    U.S. defines particularly severe the “systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom,” including violations such as torture, prolonged detention without charges, forced disappearances and other violations. The listing is reviewed annually.

    In recent years, Islamic extremists have repeatedly attacked religious minorities in Pakistan, including Shiite Muslims and Christians. Members of the Ahmadi sect face heavy discrimination and are subject to restrictions stemming from a 1984 law that forbids them from “posing as Muslims.”

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  • Blinken threatens travel ban for Sudanese who endanger deal

    Blinken threatens travel ban for Sudanese who endanger deal

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    CAIRO — Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Sudanese leaders Wednesday that the United States will impose a travel ban on any individuals who threaten to derail Sudan’s fragile democratic transition.

    The announcement comes two days after Sudan’s two ruling generals, Abdel-Fattah Burhan and Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, and its main pro-democracy group, the Forces for the Declaration of Freedom and Change, signed a ‘’framework agreement.’’ The deal would see its military step back from power and the establishment of a new civilian-led transitional government. Various other political parties and organizations also signed the deal.

    In a statement issued Wednesday morning, Blinken commended Monday’s deal, brokered by the U.S., the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom. He then added that a travel ban would be imposed on any will individuals ‘’believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining the democratic transition in Sudan.‘’

    Sudan’s framework deal appears to offer only the roughest outlines for how Sudan will resume its fragile progression to democracy, with key political players having refused to sign the agreement. The deal also ducked thornier issues concerning transitional justice and the implementation of military reform.

    The U.N. special envoy for Sudan, Volker Perthes, called the political framework agreement “an important breakthrough.”

    But in a video briefing from Khartoum to the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday, he cautioned that “critical contentious issues still need to be addressed in the final agreement.”

    These include reforming the security sector and merging rival forces, ensuring transitional justice, and implementing a peace agreement signed in Juba in 2020 by Sudan’s transitional government and several armed groups.

    Perthes said the U.N. would also like to have an exchange in the next phase of talks on the economic and development priorities of a new government.

    He warned that this week’s encouraging progress on the political track “can still be derailed by challenges and spoilers.” As a final agreement gets closer, Perthes said, “those who don’t see their interests advanced by a political settlement may escalate attempts to undermine the process.”

    Several former rebel leaders, who have formed their own political bloc, are absent from the agreement. Also missing are Sudan’s sprawling grassroots pro-democracy Resistance Committees, which have refused to negotiate with Sudan’s military leaders.

    ‘‘Recognizing the fragility of democratic transitions, the United States will hold to account spoilers — whether military or political actors.’’ Blinken said. Further negotiations for a more inclusive agreement are expected to take place shortly.

    Sudan has been in turmoil since the country’s leading military figure, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, led a coup in October 2021 that upended the country’s previous democratic transition following three decades of autocratic rule by Omar al-Bashir.

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