In last year’s State of the Union address, some of President Joe Biden’s splashiest remarks centered on what was then Russia’s recent and shocking invasion of Ukraine. This year, Biden reserved such remarks for another, more formidable global power: China. Fortunately, Biden’s comments showed restraint and calm at a time of surging tensions between Washington and Beijing. And they marked a rejection of pressure to assume a warlike posture just to please China hawks, who have slammed Biden for having opted not to shoot down a Chinese surveillance balloon until it had floated out over the Atlantic Ocean. Biden pledged that the U.S. will take necessary steps to defend itself, but he also said he has “made clear with President Xi that we seek competition, not conflict.”
First, some background on the whole balloon incident: The military spotted and began tracking a Chinese surveillance balloon on Jan. 28, as it hovered over Alaska. The balloon began to become a major media story a few days later, particularly as civilians began to spot it over the continental U.S. It was a natural media spectacle — the idea of a balloon’s being menacing lent itself to a massive wave of speculation, jokes and intrigue. And it appeared likely that it was hovering over Montana to gather information about an intercontinental ballistic missile site.
For Biden to clearly say “we seek competition, not conflict,” was a clear bid to slow down a potential escalatory spiral.
Biden has said he wanted to shoot the balloon down immediately but was advised by the Defense Department to wait until it floated over the ocean. Such a strategy had two advantages: First, it would ensure civilian safety, as shooting down a balloon of such size would have posed a serious danger to anybody on the ground below it. Second, it would allow the Pentagon to study the balloon and more easily recover its parts to investigate China’s technological capabilities. In the meantime, the military took steps to shield sensitive U.S. capabilities and sensitive communications from surveillance in the vicinity of the balloon. But the president’s prudence had a cost: It allowed Republicans to slam him as weak on China as the balloon floated across the U.S. for days. Finally, a few days after it was first spotted over Montana, it was shot down by a U.S. F-22 fighter jet off the coast of South Carolina.
In light of a barrage of negative media and criticisms from the GOP, Biden might’ve been tempted to use his speech to stake out a belligerent posture. But he didn’t. Instead, he struck a measured tone. “Make no mistake: As we made clear last week, if China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country. And we did,” he said. But almost every other sentence he uttered about China focused on the country as an economic competitor rather than as an existential military threat. And toward that end, he focused on the idea of the U.S.’s going head-to-head with China on industry. "I will make no apologies that we are investing to make America stronger. Investing in American innovation, in industries that will define the future, that China intends to be dominating," he said. And despite intense pressure to sound pugnacious, Biden also noted that the U.S. is "committed to work with China where we can advance American interests and benefit the world."
It was a striking emphasis at a time when tensions are soaring. The GOP has relentlessly criticized Biden as a push over for not acting more aggressively. Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed a much-awaited, high-stakes trip to China because of the balloon incident. And the week before, a U.S. general caused a stir when he predicted an imminent war with China. For Biden to clearly say “we seek competition, not conflict,” was a clear bid to slow down a potential escalatory spiral.
“Biden took a relatively subdued tone toward China. He emphasized that ‘we seek competition, not conflict,’ and addressed the balloon incident in a straightforward rather than chest-thumping manner,” Stephen Wertheim, a senior fellow in the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told me.
“Biden also made clear that he is strengthening the U.S. military to deter China. But he said this only briefly,” Wertheim added.
Biden’s remarks underscore his agenda to keep U.S.-Chinese relations stable while moving aggressively in the U.S.'s economic clash with the world’s second-biggest economy. Asked Monday by a reporter whether the balloon incident would weaken U.S.-Chinese relations, Biden flatly said, "No."
“We did the right thing, and there’s not a question of weakening or strengthening. It’s just the reality,” he said.
