Biden: “If China threatens the sovereignty of the United States, we will act to defend our country”

The President of the United States, Joe Biden, said on the 7th (local time), “If China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to defend our country, and we did.” It is interpreted as announcing strong countermeasures against China, referring to the recent incident in which a Chinese reconnaissance balloon was shot down by US military authorities while flying in mainland US airspace.

President Biden said in a State of the Union address in the Washington Congress that day, “China pledges to cooperate with China in areas that advance the interests of the United States and benefit the world.”

President Biden said, “We competed with Chinese President Xi Jinping, but we made it clear that we were not seeking a dispute,” and “we are in the strongest position to compete with China or any other country in the world.” He claimed that there had been talk of the rise of China and the fall of America before he took office, then said, “No more. Over the past year, democracy has grown stronger, not weakened, and dictatorships have weakened, not weakened,” he said.

President Biden also emphasized investment in the United States and strengthening alliances, saying, “To win the competition with China, we must unite.”