Blinken's Planned China Trip Wasn't Worth Balloon Fiasco, Experts Say

National security experts say that nothing on tap for the since-canceled sit-down between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese President Xi Jinping could have justified the Biden administration's apparent acceptance of a Chinese spy balloon transiting the U.S. — a prolonged trek that took the device above several sensitive U.S. military installations.

President Joe Biden initially ignored reporters' questions about the high-altitude Chinese spy balloon and seemingly delayed shooting it down even after the Pentagon and State Department publicly declared the aerial invader a snooping device and not an off-course weather balloon, as the Chinese claimed, in what analysts contend was likely an effort to save Blinken's impending trip.