Biden promises to protect US from Chinese threats to sovereignty

(Bloomberg) — President Joe Biden said the US would cooperate with China where it can but protect its sovereignty “as we made clear last week,” an indirect reference to the furor over the alleged Chinese spy balloon that previously sent US -Territory had crossed gunned down.

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With tensions running high between Washington and Beijing over the matter, Biden took a toned-down approach in his State of the Union address, saying in his prepared text that the US was in the “strongest position in decades to deal with China or anyone.” to compete in the world.”

“I am committed to working with China where it can advance American interests and benefit the world,” Biden said. “But make no mistake: as we made clear last week, if China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country. And we have.”

Biden made no mention of the balloon in the prepared speech, nor did the US argument that its transit across the US last week was part of a broader and increasingly aggressive spy program. The espionage dispute sparked a diplomatic feud and forced Foreign Minister Antony Blinken to postpone a planned visit to Beijing. A US fighter jet shot it down over the ocean off South Carolina on Saturday.

At the same time, Biden has not approached China’s President Xi Jinping or attempted to defuse tensions, which have been fueled by a host of other measures, including new US export controls on sensitive microchip technology. The US claims that China is taking a more aggressive stance, including towards the self-governing island of Taiwan.

Beijing denied the balloon was a spy device and insisted on conducting weather research. The Chinese government accused the US of overreacting to the launch of the balloon.

Biden had met Xi in Bali last November with a promise to try to reverse a slippage in the relationship and resume military contacts that were cut after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan. But the Pentagon said Tuesday that China had rebuffed efforts to set up talks between the two countries’ top defense officials after the balloon was shot down.

The speech was consistent with Biden’s broader approach. He told reporters Monday that the balloon incident did not weaken US-China ties and shrugged off the notion of Chinese espionage, saying it was “something expected of China.”

While Biden otherwise omitted China in the speech, he said the US had “lost our edge” in semiconductor manufacturing, citing automakers’ inability to get chips made overseas during the pandemic .

“We must never allow that to happen again,” he said.

The US reached a deal with the Netherlands and Japan last month to limit shipments of advanced semiconductor equipment to China, a move analysts say is likely to cripple Beijing’s tech ambitions. The White House is also aiming to restrict investment in critical sectors in China through executive measures that have been in the works for months.

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