Feb. 3, 2023: Worries balloon over Chinese spying

Published: Feb. 3, 2023, 11:57 a.m.

We have our first taste of how different conducting foreign policy will be for President Joe Biden now that Republicans control the House.\xa0\nThe Pentagon revealed Thursday afternoon that it has detected and is tracking a large Chinese spy balloon floating in the stratosphere above Montana, where it was surveilling a nuclear missile base. The balloon, which entered U.S. airspace on Tuesday, is well above the altitude at which commercial aircraft fly, and Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder insisted that it \u201cdoes not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground.\u201d\nOfficials also noted that it\u2019s not the first time one of these balloons has been spotted in American airspace in recent years \u2014 including during the Trump administration. But another official said the balloon has lingered longer than the others.\n\u201cIt is appearing to hang out for a long period of time this time around, more persistent than in previous instances,\u201d the official said.\xa0\nD.C.-based China correspondent Phelim Kine joins to break down the reaction from Washington in the midst of already high tensions with China.\nSubscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter\nRaghu Manavalan is the host and senior editor of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.