Chuck Schumer says Senate will get ‘full’ briefing on China

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) revealed the full Senate body will get a briefing about China on Feb. 15 amid the suspected spy balloon controversy.

“The full Senate — all senators of both parties — will have a larger and full China briefing next week. And that is something that I think will be very important, serious and hopefully nonpolitical,” Schumer said at a press conference. “Under this full brief, all senators in both parties will be briefed by the Department of Defense on their office of Net Assessment (ONA) US-China Overmatch Study.”

CHINA ‘STRONGLY DISAPPROVES OF’ US SHOOTING DOWN SPY BALLOON, DANGLES RETALIATION

Schumer received a briefing on the alleged spy balloon situation Sunday. The briefing for the full Senate body will entail details about China’s surveillance capabilities from the Department of Defense’s Office of Net Assessment. Members of the so-called Gang of Eight, who are cleared for classified debriefs, are expected to be briefed on China by Tuesday, said Schumer.

He also shrugged off Republican criticisms of President Joe Biden’s handling of the suspected spy balloon that flew through United States airspace for roughly eight days. Detractors rebuffed the Biden administration for not taking action sooner to shoot down the high-altitude balloon. The military shot it down Saturday after informing the public of its existence Thursday.

“We are hearing GOP criticism of the balloon mission. That they are saying we should have shot down the balloon the minute we saw it. I would use two words in answering these GOP criticisms: They are premature and they are political,” Schumer said.

China claims that the high-altitude balloon was a civilian aircraft used for meteorological purposes — something the Pentagon rejects. Defense officials have defended the decision not to down the device earlier out of concerns that doing so could create a debris field that would pose a danger to civilians.

“Our friends are playing politics with US intelligence. We sent a clear message to China that this is not acceptable. We protected civilians. We gained more intelligence while protecting our own sensitive information. And the bottom line here is shooting down the surveillance balloon over water wasn’t just the safest option, but it was the one that maximized our intelligence payload,” he added.

The balloon, which was reportedly carrying a payload the size of multiple buses, was shot down off the Carolina coast. Beijing voiced strong disapproval of the U.S. downing of the balloon. Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed his planned trip to China following the public revelations about the situation.

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Schumer also noted that the Biden administration is contemplating additional action against China in response to their “brazen” actions and underscored that because the military is poised to recover remnants of the device, it “can learn a great deal about China’s capabilities and what they are up to.”