China is on the move. President Biden, meanwhile, is failing America to an astonishing degree.
I grew up in Colorado at the foot of Cheyenne Mountain, the original home of the joint U.S.-Canadian North American Air Defense Command (NORAD). NORAD’s primary mission is to protect North American air space. So, in the midst of the Chinese ballon scandal, what exactly went wrong? How was China’s first spy balloon able to fly across Alaska and parts of Canada before being spotted by a private pilot flying above Montana?
What Americans have seen in recent days is an unacceptable failure on the part of the entire U.S. national defense system—and the commander in chief. The American people deserve answers from the man “in charge,” Joe Biden.
How is it that the Biden administration allowed the (first) Chinese ballon to fly across the entire continental United States before shooting it down over the Atlantic Ocean? How much intelligence was our enemy—China’s communist government—able to collect? Americans still don’t know the full story.
This incompetent, irresponsible handling of an unprecedented national security breach is outrageous. President Biden must be held accountable.
As more details are revealed, it’s clear that the Chinese Communist Party is mobilizing heavily. According to the unfit and unprepared Biden administration, China’s ballon surveillance program is “global in scope.” Similar surveillance devices have been spotted in the Middle East, including Afghanistan. And China is now increasing its defense budget by 11 percent, setting its sights on nearby Taiwan.
This is the most aggressive, emboldened version of communist China that we’ve seen in decades. And it’s no coincidence: China, led by Xi Jinping, has been emboldened by President Biden, whose administration has either inadequately dealt with the Chinese threat or ignored it altogether. There is a reason why China is aligning itself with the likes of Iran and Russia now, aggressively courting America’s adversaries as allies.
The reason is Joe Biden. Lest we forget the State of the Union, where he barely mentioned China as an adversary. The president spent more time lamenting hotel and baggage fees than confronting the Chinese threat with any semblance of resolve, strength, or leadership. Even worse, he reminded Xi that the Biden administration seeks “
The only issue with Biden’s faux-diplomacy is that Xi disagrees. As the recent wave of Chinese balloon surveillance reminds all Americans, the Chinese government obviously sees the United States as an enemy. The Biden administration may seek competition, but Xi’s government has made conflict more likely than at any point in recent memory.
The logical question is this: What does the Biden administration do in response? Unfortunately, the “who” suggests the American response will be as passive and weak as can be expected from a president out of his depths. President Biden has yet to even brief the American people on China’s maneuvering or the potential for U.S. retaliation, whatever that may be (or not).
Expecting answers, American citizens have received a combination of mixed messaging from Biden officials and radio silence from their boss. At least we now know that aliens aren’t to blame, courtesy of White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
The current commander in chief is a far, far cry from his predecessors, who regularly addressed Americans during times of crisis. President Biden’s non-response to the Chinese threat is a sobering departure from another Democrat, President John F. Kennedy, whose famous address on the Cuban Missile Crisis cleared the bare-minimum bar of actually informing the public. That historic response—delivered by a man fit for the job—clearly asks too much of President Biden.
The federal government’s top priority is to expose and counter any and all acts of Chinese aggression. For too long, politicians like Biden have appeased or disregarded an expansionist China, intent on dominating global affairs in more ways than one. Now the chickens are coming home to roost.
The rapid expansion of Chinese-controlled TikTok on American soil is not only another example of China’s resurgent power play, but also another blatant failure on the part of Biden Democrats who treat the TikTok menace like it doesn’t exist. Even as Republicans attempt to mitigate TikTok’s surveillance of countless consumers, they are met with ridicule from Democrats and their media allies.
Enough: The time to respond to China is now. For the national disgrace named Joe Biden, the clock is ticking.
Ted Harvey serves as chairman of the Committee to Defeat the President.