WASHINGTON—The Pentagon has been tracking a Chinese spy balloon in U.S. airspace. China asserts the balloon is a civilian weather tracking aircraft. James Carafano, vice president of national security and foreign policy at The Heritage Foundation made the following statement: 

“The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is playing our leaders for fools. The Biden administration needs to wake up to reality, take the kid gloves off and move swiftly to protect our national security. 

 

“China’s operation of an intelligence collection balloon over U.S. airspace violates U.S. sovereignty and international law. When it is safe to do so, the U.S. military must take down this balloon and inform China that any future violations of U.S. airspace will be met with a swift and decisive response. 

 

“This Chinese spy balloon is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the CCP’s nefarious operations in the United States. While this administration is focused on fighting climate change and insisting on DEI training in the military, the CCP continues to purchase farmland across the U.S., spy on and poison the minds of Americans through TikTok, and infiltrate state and local politics. But what was Secretary of State Blinken doing? Flying to China to discuss climate change with the world’s worst polluter and discuss the Ukraine war with Russia’s biggest supporter. 

 

“Beijing has seen nothing but weakness from Washington; Americans deserve leadership that takes the existential threat of the CCP seriously.”