US is not seeking a new Cold War: Joe Biden

In response to the US Air Force shooting down what Washington claims was a high-tech Chinese surveillance balloon earlier this month, President Joe Biden said on Thursday that he will speak with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

In his most lengthy public statements since the event on February 4, Biden stated, “I anticipate meeting with President Xi and… we’re going to get to the bottom of this.”

Biden emphasized that he made “no apologies for bringing down that balloon,” adding that the United States is “not seeking for a new Cold War.”

The interests and security of the American people will always be protected, according to Vice President Biden.

Since a massive white Chinese balloon was seen flying over several top-secret nuclear weapons locations before being shot down close off the east coast, the country has been on high alert.

After the event, the US military changed its radar settings to pick up smaller objects, which led to the quick discovery of three further unidentified aircraft that Vice President Biden ordered to be shot down: one over Alaska, one over Canada, and one over Lake Huron off Michigan.

China claims the balloon was just a wayward weather research craft, but American authorities claim they have solid proof the balloon was dispatched as a spy.

The event resulted in a diplomatic split, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken hastily canceled a rare trip to China. China alleged that the US had overreacted and that American balloons had flown beyond Chinese territory, both of which the Biden administration disputes.

Biden made a point of differentiating the Chinese balloon from the three other smaller targets that were eventually shot down.

The specific nature of the three items is yet unknown, according to Biden.

According to the US intelligence community’s current judgment, the balloons are “most likely balloons associated to private firms” or research programs, he said, adding that “nothing right now implies they’re related to China’s spy balloon programme.”

But Biden vowed to remove any item that “presents a danger to the safety and security (of) the American people.“