February 16, 2023 Updated: February 16, 2023
The U.S. Capitol is seen
in Washington on Jan. 23, 2023. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
The U.S. Senate has approved two resolutions
unanimously on Feb. 15 that formally condemn the Chinese communist regime
for its illegal incursion into U.S. airspace with a spy balloon and also call
for transparency from the Biden administration about the incident.
The first resolution
“condemns the Chinese Communist Party’s [CCP] invasion of United States airspace to conduct
surveillance” on American citizens and military bases. It also calls
on President Joe Biden to “be transparent with the American people and Congress
regarding this latest spying incident and all other attempts by the Chinese
Communist Party to conduct surveillance on United States citizens, territory,
and assets.”
The second measure
condemns the incursion as a “brazen violation of United States sovereignty.”
The language closely
mirrors that of a
House resolution,
that was approved on Feb. 9 by a unanimous vote in Congress.
“The Chinese Communist
Party’s use of a high-altitude surveillance balloon over United States
territory as a brazen violation of United States sovereignty,” that resolution
said.
“The Chinese Communist
Party’s intelligence collection directed against the United States poses a
threat to United States interests and security.”
Sen. Jon Tester
(D-Mont.), whose state was among those that the Chinese spy balloon traversed,
hailed the bipartisan resolutions for their clarity in calling out the CCP and
its aggression abroad.
“Montanans expect their
elected leaders to work across party lines to defend our national security, and
I’m proud to have led this unified effort to rebuke China’s unacceptable provocation,” Tester said
in a tweet.
Tester, who chairs the
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee for Defense, said during
a hearing earlier
this month that it wasn’t surprising the CCP invaded U.S. territory, given the
fact that the military and two administrations hadn’t responded to four
previous incursions.
“It should not have been
a surprise that China did this because nothing … has happened before to them
for these overflights,” Tester said.
Beijing accused Congress of harming China’s
sovereignty with “purely malicious hype,” saying that the spy balloon was a
civilian airship and shouldn’t have been shot down even though it flew across
the entirety of the continental United States.
Likewise, the Chinese
foreign ministry said it will take “countermeasures” against U.S. entities
somehow related to the downing of the balloon, and the regime announced on Feb.
16 that it issued sanctions against U.S. defense manufacturers Lockheed
Martin and Raytheon.
The United States has
similarly sanctioned
six Chinese entities that
it claims are related to China’s spy balloon program, which officials say
has targeted
40 nations on
five continents for covert intelligence collection.
House Votes 419-0 to Pass Resolution Condemning China for
Spy Balloon
https://freedomvalue.blogspot.com/2023/02/house-votes-419-0-to-pass-resolution.html
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