The Chinese surveillance balloon that drifted across the continental United States before being shot out of the sky off the coast of South Carolina is being seen by the administration’s critics as the latest embarrassment to hit President Biden’s foreign policy.
The balloon, which Chinese officials have claimed is a civilian craft gone adrift but U.S. officials insist is a surveillance vessel, was finally shot down on Saturday afternoon after being allowed to drift across the continental United States for days.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled a planned trip to Beijing due to the incident, while Republicans hammered President Biden for initially failing to shoot down the balloon. On Saturday afternoon, as the balloon tracked over Myrtle Beach, S.C., it was finally deflated by an F-22 pilot.
The White House said that Biden followed the advice of the Pentagon and top military leaders not to shoot the craft down over the U.S. in case it causes civilian casualties and other…
