ANKENY, Iowa — A former U.S. ambassador to China says President Joe Biden’s handling of the recent spy balloon affair has been a “disaster.”

Ambassador Terry Branstad, former longtime Iowa governor and President Trump’s top diplomat in China, tells The Iowa Star the Chinese Communist Party “respects strength” and the only thing Biden has shown them is weakness. He said it’s the latest in a long line of foreign policy blunders by the administration.

“Afghanistan, this balloon deal, you name it. He doesn’t stand up to them and that’s the only thing they respect,” said Branstad, a Republican who served in China between 2017 and 2020.

The Biden administration was widely criticized late last month when the Chinese spy balloon was observed in U.S. airspace and allowed to gently float over the country for days. U.S. military officials ultimately were ordered to shoot down the balloon.

Biden initially claimed the balloon’s movement through U.S. air space was ‘not a major breach.” Pentagon officials assert they did not destroy the vessel until it crossed over the Atlantic out of fear the debris from the balloon — described as the size of the Statute of Liberty with a “jetliner size payload” — could present a safety threat.

In the days since, military officials have spotted and shot down three unmanned and unidentified aerial objects. They have acknowledged losing track of the objects, which posed a threat to air traffic.

Lawmakers have criticized the president for his reticence to provide more details about the UAOs and the administration’s plan to deal with them in the future. It’s yet to be confirmed whether the objects are related to China’s spy balloons.

Branstad said he sees more incursions by Communist China ahead.

“I think they’re going to continue to test us as long as they can see they can get away with this stuff,” the former ambassador said.

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M.D. Kittle is the National Political Editor for The Star News Network.
Photo “Terry Branstad” by Terry Branstad.