President Joe Biden assured this Wednesday that USA “not looking for a conflict" with China despite the tension over the downing of a Chinese balloon.
“We will compete fully with China but (...) we are not looking for a conflict and that has been the case until now”, he said, according to fragments of an interview with PBS broadcast on Wednesday.
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Biden appears to be trying to ease the tension after an air force plane shot down a huge Chinese balloon that flew over much of the United States on Saturday, according to Washingtonfor espionage purposes.
When asked if the incident has considerably damaged the relationship with China, Biden replied that “No”.
China insists the balloon was conducting meteorological research, but the Pentagon he described it as a high-tech spy operation.
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The balloon was traveling at a much higher altitude than most planes and flew over at least one sensitive US military installation.