Joe Biden “does not seek conflict” with China, he said according to excerpts broadcast Wednesday from an interview with PBS, as the United States has just destroyed a Chinese balloon which had flown over their territory .
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“No,” replied the American president to the journalist who asked him if relations with Beijing had suffered “a blow”.
“We will compete fully with China, but we are not looking for conflict,” he assured.
In general, Washington was rather careful to raise the tone after shooting down a Chinese balloon on Saturday, intended according to the Americans to spy on sensitive military sites.
Before Congress on Tuesday, Joe Biden however assured: “If China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country. »
The relationship between the two superpowers has become tense following this affair.
China strongly condemned the destruction of the balloon, according to it a “civilian aircraft used for research purposes, mainly meteorological” which had “involuntarily” entered American airspace.
The head of the American diplomacy Antony Blinken in this context canceled at the last minute a planned visit to China.
The Pentagon also revealed on Tuesday that Beijing had refused on Saturday the American proposal for a telephone call between the head of the Pentagon Lloyd Austin and his counterpart Wei Fenghe.