US President Joe Biden on Thursday said he expected to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss this month's shoot-down of a Chinese balloon that floated across America before it was destroyed off the coast of South Carolina.
“I expect to be speaking with President Xi, and I hope we get to the bottom of this,” Mr Biden said in remarks from the White House, noting that lines of communication between the two economic and nuclear superpowers must remain open.
“I make no apologies for taking down that balloon,” he added.
Mr Biden, who has faced Republican criticism for not discussing the balloon incident in greater detail, said three other “objects” that were shot down over North America within days of the balloon encounter were not related to “China's spy balloon programme”, nor were they “surveillance vehicles from other any other country”.
The prospect of a Biden-Xi call comes after Secretary of State Antony Blinken cancelled a planned trip to Beijing, which was supposed to have signalled a willingness to engage in rapprochement.
