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Schumer: US Considers Options With China After Balloon Shootdown

Schumer: US Considers Options With China After Balloon Shootdown
This image provided by the U.S. Navy shows sailors recovering the Chinese surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on Monday. (U.S. Navy via AP)

Tuesday, 07 February 2023 01:20 PM EST

U.S. Senate Democrat leader Chuck Schumer said relations with China are strained and the Biden administration is looking at other actions it can take after shooting down what it called a Chinese surveillance balloon over the weekend.

"Tense," Schumer said when asked to describe the state of bilateral relations.

The appearance of the Chinese balloon over the United States last week caused a political uproar in Washington and prompted the top U.S. diplomat, Antony Blinken, to cancel a Sunday-Monday tip to Beijing that both countries had hoped would steady their rocky relations.

China has said it was a weather balloon that had blown off course into U.S. airspace and accused the United States of overreacting.

"I know the administration is looking at other actions that can be taken," Schumer told reporters at the Capitol.

Speaking hours before fellow Democrat President Joe Biden was to deliver the annual State of the Union address to the U.S. Congress, Schumer castigated Republican lawmakers for criticizing the president's response to the balloon.

"China sent that surveillance balloon over. The Biden administration was calm, calculated and effective," Schumer said.

"This is one area where we don't need politics. So we need Democrats and Republicans to come together. We need the country to come together to condemn China for what it did, and have a unified front in dealing with the Chinese Communist Party."

The White House has downplayed any drastic effect the balloon incident would have on U.S.-China relations. Biden himself said on Monday that relations were not weakened by the downing of the balloon.

"No. We made it clear to China what we're going to do. They understand our position. We're not going to back off."

© 2025 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved.


Politics
U.S. Senate Democrat leader Chuck Schumer said relations with China are strained and the Biden administration is looking at other actions it can take after shooting down what it called a Chinese surveillance balloon over the weekend.
schumer, china, balloon
282
2023-20-07
Tuesday, 07 February 2023 01:20 PM
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