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President Joe Biden only briefly addressed China during his State of the Union address Tuesday evening, but his words fell flat contrasted with actions he has taken against the country, Republicans said after the speech.
Despite escalating tensions between China and Taiwan in the Pacific and the recent shooting down of the spy balloon that hovered over the United States, among other clashes, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., described Biden’s actions towards China as “very weak.”
“Actions speak louder than words. And President Biden’s actions have been very weak toward China,” Hawley told Fox News during an interview Tuesday evening.
He also said Biden’s words during the State of the Union were “totally inadequate” given the current geopolitical tensions.
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“I thought it was totally inadequate,” Hawley continued. “I mean, he said almost nothing, no specific talk or acknowledgment of the balloon espionage incident, no plan to counter it and no acknowledgment that he’s been incredibly weak on China.”
Hawley also mentioned the controversial spy balloon — which China claims was a civilian object that was measuring mostly metrological data — which was shot down off the coast of South Carolina last week.
“I mean, how was it that China was allowed to fly this tool of espionage across the continental United States, including the state of Missouri, and that his administration did nothing about it?” the senator asked.
U.S. defense officials later confirmed this was not the only suspected spy balloon and that several of these balloons have been detected throughout the U.S., including near a military base in Hawaii, in recent years.
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Hawley added: “They would have kept the whole thing a secret if the Billings paper had ruined it by publishing photos. So, I mean, this is a guy who’s in total denial, by the way. They still haven’t level with the American people or senators, for that matter. We don’t know anything more than anybody else knows because they won’t level with the American people.”
Cotton is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Several Democrats defended Biden’s brevity on China.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, said Biden “was tough on China” but that it was the president’s intention to have his “main focus” be on “the average working family and their concerns, their dreams, [and] their hopes.”
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Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., echoed these sentiments but seemed to deflect blame away from Biden and onto Republicans and former President Donald Trump.
“The speech was, and I thought it was very strong regarding China,” Takano told Fox News. “I think there was some derision by Republicans over this balloon issue. But I want to just remind people that Hong Kong was overtaken. You know, the basic law in Hong Kong was undermined during the Trump administration,” he said.
The Democratic lawmaker added: “And it was a very weak moment for the United States. And so all this jockeying and positioning over the Republicans to say they’re stronger on China. It really is overlooking the real history.”
Senator Chris Coons, D-Delaware, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a close ally of President Biden, mostly agreed by saying Biden’s address “certainly focused strongly on China.”
He noted, however, that the president wanted to “address absolutely everything.”
“We’ve got a lot of issues in our world, in our country, and the president in just over an hour tried to address absolutely everything. I think he did a great job today,” Coons told Fox News.
“I think the speech was positive, energetic, forceful, and laid out a clear path forward for the country,” he continued. “I was struck at the number of times that there was actually broad bipartisan agreement when he was calling for us to take action, for example combating gun violence, finding a path forward on police reform, closing the border, moving forward on bipartisan immigration reform and the support of the fight of Ukraine against Russia.”
Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, differed somewhat in his response, saying Biden “wanted to be strong against China” but suggested more needed to be done.
“Well, you know, he said that he wanted to be strong against China. I mean, I think the balloon is only one aspect. But I think standing strong against China, not only militarily, but also what we talk about, the chips, because the pandemic showed us that, you know, we’re so dependent on China,” Cuellar said.
Biden’s brief remarks on China and the Chinese spy balloon came approximately an hour into his speech.