02.10.23

Sullivan: America is Not Deterring China, But Biden Admin Can Change That

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) said he is urging Biden administration officials to reestablish deterrence with China in an interview on Fox News Channel’s Fox & Friends this morning. Senator Sullivan told Fox’s Steve Doocy that he raised the deterrence point to uniformed and civilian Pentagon officials at a classified briefing Thursday. The briefing covered the Chinese spy balloon that illegally entered American airspace over Alaska on January 28 and was later shot down off the coast of South Carolina by American fighter jets.

“We need to reestablish deterrence,” Senator Sullivan said. “Right now, the Chinese believe they can do this any time they want. They have been doing it any time they want to us and to other countries. What I pressed administration officials on yesterday was making a public announcement that the next time they do anything like this, particularly over my airspace in Alaska. we're going to shoot them down. To Alaska Command Military Authority's credit, we scrambled F-16s, F-35s. We were tracking this balloon before it came into our airspace. We clearly could have shot it down, and next time we need to just tell them, we will shoot it down. That will reestablish deterrence. But right now we don't have deterrence. They believe they can do this any time, any place, in America and the rest of the world.”

STEVE DOOCY: “So the president said not a major breach and then he said essentially because everybody spies on everybody else. Yes, they were in our airspace, but everybody does it. It's not that big of deal. Do you agree?”

SENATOR SULLIVAN: “No, I don't agree at all. It's quite a big deal and I think it’s a wake-up call for America. A couple things on this, Steve. First, it reminds us of what the nature of the Chinese Communist Party regime is: they are aggressive. They have been doing this to our country. They have been doing this actually all over the world for a number of years, and then, of course, publicly, they don't tell the truth. They lie to the world. I mean, they are still claiming, believe it or not, that this is some kind of, you know, a weather balloon. That's ridiculous. Do you remember when Xi Jinping stood next to President Obama in the Rose Garden saying they weren't going to militarize the South China Sea. That was a lie. So we need to make sure we understand the nature of the adversary we are facing. 

“But, then, here is the big thing we need to reestablish deterrence. Right now, the Chinese believe they can do this any time they want. They have been doing it any time they want to us and to other countries. 

“What I pressed administration officials on yesterday was making a public announcement that the next time they do anything like this, particularly over my airspace in Alaska. we're going to shoot them down. To Alaska Command Military Authority's credit, we scrambled F-16s, F-35s. We were tracking this balloon before it came into our airspace. We clearly could have shot it down, and next time we need to just tell them, we will shoot it down. That will reestablish deterrence. But right now we don't have deterrence. They believe they can do this any time, any place, in America and the rest of the world.” 

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