On Thursday, President of the United States Joe Biden stated that the Intelligence Community has no indication that the three objects shot down in recent days were Chinese surveillance aircraft.
Joe Biden added that he anticipates a discussion with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Biden, speaking on the United States’ response to recent aerial objects, stated, “The current assessment of the Intelligence Community is that these three objects were most likely balloons attached to private companies or research institutions conducting weather or other scientific research.”
The United States shot down the balloon, which China claimed was a civilian airship used for meteorological research, on February 4 after it had hovered over the country for a week.
“I want to make it clear that we have no evidence that the number of objects in the sky has suddenly increased. “We’re just seeing more of them because we’ve taken steps to increase our radars,” he continued.
Joe Biden added that these three objects could be associated with the Chinese spy balloon program or be surveillance vehicles from another nation.
He indicated that he will not shoot down every weather balloon the United States encounters, but will keep an eye out for future spy balloons.
“Make no mistake, if any object poses a threat to the safety and security of the American people, I will remove it,” the president of the United States said.
Joe Biden suggests that the most recent objects were not part of a foreign intelligence program. “The three objects are most likely balloons attached to private companies, recreation or research institutions conducting weather or other scientific research,” he said.
The United States and China do not seek a “new Cold War.” “We will also continue to engage with China, as we have for the past two weeks,” Biden said, adding that US diplomats will remain in contact with their Chinese counterparts and that he will eventually speak with China’s leader, Xi Jinping.
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Biden also made clear that the procedure for removing unidentified objects will be classified in the future, but will be shared with Congress. Members of Congress had previously critical the White House for not sharing more information about the Chinese spy balloon program sooner.