‘I don’t think’ Chinese spy balloon should hurt US ties

Vice President Kamala Harris said Tuesday she doesn’t believe that this month’s Chinese spy balloon fiasco should harm diplomatic relations between Washington and Beijing, echoing a conciliatory statement by President Biden last week.

“I don’t think so, no,” the veep told Politico when asked if the surveillance device — which was shot down by a US Air Force fighter jet on Feb. 4 off South Carolina — would change the US relationship with China.

Harris added that the White House wants “competition, but not conflict or confrontation” with the Asian power, adding that she used the same words to Chinese President Xi Jinping when they spoke at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Thailand this past November. 

“Everything that has happened in the last week and a half is, we believe, very consistent with our stated approach,” the VP said. 

The balloon was equipped with antennas capable of collecting communications signals and other intelligence-gathering materials, according to the State Department. It had spent almost a week traveling across US airspace — hovering over sensitive military sites along the way — before being taken down over the Atlantic.

Harris will lead the US delegation at this weekend’s Munich Security Conference in Germany, but does not have any plans to meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who will also be in attendance.

Her comments come after President Biden said Feb. 9 the balloon’s flight over US airspace “was not a major breach.”

“Look, the total amount of intelligence gathering that’s going on by every country around the world is overwhelming,” he told Telemundo, seeming to imply the balloon was part of routine spying.

Biden also defended his decision to wait until the balloon was over open waters to shoot it down.

“I said I wanted it shot down as soon as possible and [the intelligence community and Defense Department] were worried about the damage that can be done even in a big state like Montana,” the president said. “This thing was gigantic. What happened if it came down and hit a school in a rural area? So, I told them as soon as they can shoot it down, shoot it down. They made a wise decision.”

Despite Biden’s blasé attitude, the commander-in-chief maintained China’s actions were “totally a violation of international law.”

“It’s our airspace. And once it comes in our space, we can do what we want with it,” he said.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, who called the US-China relationship the “most consequential” in the world, admitted at a White House press briefing Monday that the episode has “certainly not helped us move forward in the way that we want it to move.”