VP Harris doesn't think US shooting down spy balloon will affect relations with China

WASHINGTON (TND) — Vice President Kamala Harris said in a recent interview that she doesn't think the United States destroying a Chinese spy balloon will affect relations between the two nations.

In a phone interview with Politico on Tuesday, Harris was reportedly asked if the incident could possibly affect diplomacy between the two global superpowers.

I don’t think so, no," Harris told Politico, later explaining that the Biden administration's approach to Beijing is "we seek competition, but not conflict or confrontation."

Politico called Harris's answers "one of the clearest public efforts by the administration to prevent further geopolitical fallout from the incident" just a week after the U.S. shot down the Chinese spy balloon.

Prior to its destruction, the Chinese spy balloon was allowed to traverse across the U.S. for about a week. It reportedly flew over several military bases, which includedstrategic sites with nuclear missile silos.

China expert and bestselling author Gordon Chang discussed why the balloon was not shot down earlier during an interview with The National Desk.

President Biden was not notified until the fourth day of this incursion," Chang told TND's Jan Jeffcoat. "And that means that was past the time when this could have been shot down over Alaska or Canada. In other words, uninhabited territory. We also learned yesterday from General VanHerck, the commander of NORAD, that his rules of engagement did not permit him to bring this balloon down when it entered U.S. territorial airspace."

It was said that the U.S. government was concerned about shooting down the Chinese spy balloon while it was over mainland America, as the debris could possibly fall and harm citizens.

The Chinese spy balloon was shot down while it was above the Atlantic Ocean just off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where it landed safely in the water.

Following the balloon's destruction, the U.S. blacklisted six Chinese entities that were linked toaerospace programs in Beijing as a retaliatory effort, according to the Associated Press.

China has reportedly denied the balloon was used for spying, and instead claimed the flying contraption was a weather craft that had blown off course.

Following the balloon's very public destruction, China asked for its remains to be sent back. The Pentagon denied China's request.

Several moreunidentified aerial objects (UAO) have recently been shot down in North American airspace. Fighter jets have destroyed four foreign aircraft in less than 10 days, according to previous reporting from TND.

American lawmakers are reportedly demanding answers regarding those new UAO incidents, but information has been scarce.