China sought to demonstrate that “we can do whatever we want” by flying a spy balloon over the continental United States without immediate repercussions, Marco Rubio insisted. The Florida Senator said Joe Biden’s failure to react to reports of the balloon immediately helped Beijing send a clear message to US allies in the Indo-Pacific about Washington’s inability to support its friends. The spotting and consequent downing of the spy balloon came in the run-up to Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to China at a time of heightened regional tensions.
Sen Rubio said: “They calculated this carefully with a message embedded in it. And I think that’s the part we can’t forget here.
“It’s not just the balloon. It’s the message to try to send the world that … we can do whatever we want, and America can’t stop us.”
“This is deliberate, they did this on purpose, they understood it was going to be spotted.
“They knew the US Government would need to reveal…the people were going to see it in the sky.”
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The Floridian added to ABC’s This Week: “The message they were trying to send is what they believe internally and that the United States is a once great superpower that’s hollowed out, that’s in decline.
“The message they are trying to send the world is, ‘look, these guys can’t even do anything about a balloon flying over US airspace. How can you possibly count on them if something were to happen in the Indo-Pacific region?'”
Rubio’s criticism of the administration regarding its stance against China was echoed across the party, with Arkansas junior Senator Tom Cotton accusing Beijing of “waging a Cold War” against the US for years.
Cotton lamented that “not many of our leaders have acknowledged that” as he demanded immediate action to clamp down on China’s hostile attitude towards the US.
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Cotton, a member of the Intelligence Committee, told Fox News: “What began as a spy balloon has become a trial balloon testing President Biden’s strength and resolve.
“And, unfortunately, the President failed that test and that’s dangerous for the American people. The President was paralyzed for an entire week by a balloon.”
But as Republicans this weekend accused China of deliberately spying on the US, Beijing accused Washington of indiscriminate use of force when the American military shot down the balloon.
Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng lodged a formal complaint with the US Embassy on Sunday over the “US attack on a Chinese civilian unmanned airship by military force.”
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Secretary Blinken scrapped a trip to Beijing and China’s defense ministry said in a statement that Beijing “reserves the right to take necessary measures to deal with similar situations.”
Biden had wanted to issue the shootdown order on Wednesday but was advised that the best time for the operation would be when it was over water, US officials said.
Military officials determined that bringing down the balloon over land from an altitude of 60,000 feet would pose an undue risk to people on the ground.
The debris landed in 47 feet of water and it spread out over roughly 7 miles. Officials estimated the recovery efforts would be completed in a short time, not weeks.
A US official said those involved in the recovery were planning to take the remnants of the downed balloon to the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia, for further analysis. The official wasn’t authorized to discuss the plan by name and requested anonymity.
