BIDEN UPSETS THE RESET: China’s Foreign Ministry is reacting angrily to remarks by President Joe Biden at a California fundraiser yesterday, in which he attempted to downplay the Chinese spy balloon incident by portraying Chinese President Xi Jinping as a clueless “dictator” who had no idea what his military was doing.
“Don’t worry about China,” Biden said as the crowd gathered in a private home laughed. “No, but I really mean it.”
“The reason why Xi Jinping got very upset in terms of when I shot that balloon down with two boxcars full of spy equipment in it is he didn’t know it was there,” Biden said, presumably based on some U.S. intelligence. “No, I’m serious. That’s what’s a great embarrassment for dictators, when they didn’t know what happened. That wasn’t supposed to be going where it was. It was blown off course up through Alaska and then down through the United States. And he didn’t know about it. When it got shot down, he was very embarrassed.”
The remarks come after last month in Hiroshima, Japan, when Biden referred to the balloon incursion as “silly” and a day after his secretary of state returned from a mission to “stabilize” relations with China and declared the balloon matter closed. “We did what we needed to do to protect our interests. We said what we needed to say and make clear what we needed to make clear in terms of this not happening again,” said Antony Blinken.
CHINA: ‘ABSURD AND IRRESPONSIBLE’: China immediately denounced Biden’s characterization of Xi as a dictator, calling the comments a violation of diplomatic protocol and an affront to China’s political dignity.
“It is a blatant political provocation. China expresses strong dissatisfaction and opposition,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at today’s daily briefing. “The U.S. remarks are extremely absurd and irresponsible.”
At a news conference in London yesterday, Blinken danced around a question from a reporter who asked if Biden views Xi as an equal.
“I’m not quite sure how to take that question,” Blinken responded. “President Xi is the leader of China, and in and of itself, that makes him someone of tremendous significance on the world stage.”
THE CUBA CONNECTION: It’s not quite on the level of the Cuban Missile Crisis of the 1960s, but the U.S. is “closely monitoring” Chinese efforts to establish a listening post and military installation in Cuba, just 90 miles from the Florida coast, according to Blinken.
“I made very clear that we would have deep concerns about PRC intelligence or military activities in Cuba,” he said at the London news conference.
Both developments were first reported by the Wall Street Journal, which in its Tuesday story, said China and Cuba are negotiating to establish a new joint military training facility on Cuba’s northern coast, but that discussions, while at “an advanced stage,” have “not concluded.”
“I’m not going to characterize their response, but I told them that this is a serious concern for us,” Blinken told CBS on Monday.
“China is trying to improve their global reach and influence, and again, their global intelligence collection capabilities,” said NSC spokesman John Kirby in a teleconference for reporters. “It’s not like we aren’t aware of it, it’s not like we haven’t been monitoring it, and quite frankly, it’s not like we haven’t taken steps and will continue to take steps to thwart it.
CHINESE MILITARY AND INTELLIGENCE ACTIVITIES IN CUBA CAUSE US ‘DEEP CONCERN’
PROJECTING WEAKNESS: Republicans in Congress have portrayed the Biden administration efforts to ease tensions between the two superpowers as smacking of desperation.
“This was a critical time in our nation’s history where China, Communist China, tested our resolve, tested to see what we would do. This president, this administration failed,” said Rep. Mark Alford (R-MO), who saw the spy balloon drift over Whiteman Air Force Base, which is in his district, southeast of Kansas City.
“Now Secretary of State Blinken has gone to China and really shown weakness there. I think by meeting in the first place with the president of China, the dictator there, Xi Jinping. And now to come back and say that basically, hey, nothing to see here. It’s all over. We’re done. We’re all good,” Alford said. “It’s not good. This was a spy balloon. There needs to be some repercussions for Communist China.”
On Fox on Monday night, former President Donald Trump claimed, “If I was president, there wouldn’t be a spy balloon over our country.”
OPINION: WE NEED TO KNOW WHAT, IF ANY, ‘AGREEMENTS’ THE US AND CHINA REACHED
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HAPPENING TODAY: It’s a big day on Capitol Hill, as several committees get down to the laborious task of marking up bills that will form the basis of the defense budget established by law and how much money can be spent on the U.S. military in fiscal 2024.
Both the House and Senate Armed Services Committees and the House Foreign Affairs Committee have markup sessions that begin this morning, and if history is a guide, they could go late into the night.
This year’s budget battle was supposed to be largely settled by the debt ceiling deal negotiated by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and signed into law by President Joe Biden, which set the topline for defense spending at $886 billion, as Biden first proposed.
But under pressure from Freedom Caucus Republicans, the House’s versions of the appropriations bills are being written under that ceiling. In addition, Republicans are considering a number of provisions that target so-called ‘woke’ Pentagon policies, including funding travel for abortions and promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in the ranks.
HOUSE GOP DECLARES WAR ON ‘WOKE’ IN ADVANCING PENTAGON BUDGET
HAPPENING TONIGHT: President Joe Biden welcomes Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White House at 6:50 p.m. before hosting Modi at a private dinner.
Modi is at the United Nations this morning, and his official state visit to Washington begins tomorrow as the U.S. seeks to strengthen ties with India, which earlier this year, according to U.N. population estimates, has overtaken China as the world’s most populous country.
“We know that India’s going to be a strategic partner for decades to come. They are showing a growing commitment to being more engaged in the Indo-Pacific clearly … and they have shown a willingness to join the United States to help protect and advance some shared common values,” Kirby told reporters on yesterday’s briefing call. “What we believe is that there’s enormous potential in this bilateral relationship, which we believe is going to be one of the most defining bilateral relationships of the future, and it’s already improved vastly in the last two and a half years.”
“I fully expect that the war in Ukraine will be on agenda,” said Kirby. “The Indians are providing humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. Prime Minister Modi has spoken publicly about his concerns about what’s going on in the war.”
RUSSIA LAUNCHES NEARLY THREE DOZEN DRONES AT UKRAINE
REBUILDING UKRAINE: Even as Volodymyr Zelensky admitted to the BBC today that the counteroffensive against entrenched Russian forces is progressing “slower than desired,” the Ukrainian president is looking ahead to the day his war-ravaged country will begin rebuilding.
“Whatever some might want, including attempts to pressure us, with all due respect, we will advance on the battlefield the way we deem best,” Zelensky said as the Ukraine Recovery Conference convened in London. “Some people believe this is a Hollywood movie and expect results now. It’s not,” he told the BBC. “What’s at stake is people’s lives.”
In London, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced another $1.3 billion in U.S. aid to Ukraine, earmarked specifically to overhaul its energy grid and rebuild ports, railways, and other infrastructure.
“Recovery is about laying the foundation for Ukraine to thrive as a secure, independent country, fully integrated with Europe, connected to markets around the world,” Blinken said.
PENTAGON ACCOUNTING ERROR OVERVALUED MILITARY AID TO UKRAINE BY OVER $6 BILLION
TRUMP: ‘THERE WAS NO DOCUMENT’: In his Monday night interview with Fox News anchor Bret Baier, former President Donald Trump disputed one of the most damning sections of the felony indictment over mishandling classified documents.
“During an audio-recorded meeting with a writer, a publisher, and two members of his staff, none of whom possessed a security clearance, Trump showed and described a ‘plan of attack’ that Trump said was prepared for him by the Department of Defense and a senior military official,” the indictment said. “Trump told the individuals that the plan was ‘highly confidential’ and ‘secret.’ Trump also said, ‘As president, I could have declassified it,’ and, ‘Now I can’t, you know, but this is still a secret.’”
“There was no document,” Trump told Baier, insisting the papers he was referring to were news articles, not classified war plans. “That was a massive amount of papers and everything else talking about Iran and other things. And it may have been held up or may not, but that was not a document. I didn’t have a document, per se. There was nothing to declassify. These were newspaper stories, magazine stories, and articles.”
The account in the indictment matched accounts that Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, at Trump’s request, had drawn up options for attacking Iran, which Trump also denied in the Fox interview.
“I never ordered it to happen,” said Trump. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a document from Milley. Milley, frankly, was incompetent and the last one I’d want to attack with as my leader.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The Rundown
Washington Examiner: Chinese military and intelligence activities in Cuba cause US ‘deep concern’
Washington Examiner: US ‘concerned’ private Chinese companies could give military aid to Russia
Washington Examiner: Opinion: We need to know what, if any, ‘agreements’ the US and China reached
Washington Examiner: Pentagon accounting error overvalued military aid to Ukraine by over $6 billion
Washington Examiner: Russia launches nearly three dozen drones at Ukraine
Washington Examiner: Opinion: Cuba paints a bullseye on itself with China military bases
Wall Street Journal: VIDEO: Why F-16s Could Be a Game Changer for Ukraine
19fortyfive.com: Putin Will Be Angry: Ukraine Could Get F-16 and JAS 39 Fighters
AP: Ukraine downs Russian drones but some get through due to gaps in air protection
AP: Macron Urges Europe to Develop Its Own Air Defense Systems and Not Rely on the US
Washington Post: Blinken’s Visit To China Appears To Dial Back Tensions
Reuters: Taiwan On Alert For Chinese-Funded Election Interference
Washington Post: U.S., Iran In Talks About Nuclear Limits, Detainees
Bloomberg: House Defense Spending Panel Slashes $20 Billion, Boosts F-35s
Bloomberg: Lockheed Is Paying Millions for Overruns on Pentagon’s Missile Defense Radar
Defense New: MBDA Renews Case for Building Europe’s First Hypersonic Interceptor
Air Force Times: Boeing Wants to Boost KC-46 Defenses as Air Force Weighs Tanker Path
The War Zone: T-7A Red Hawk Completes Taxi Tests Ahead of First Flight
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Historic ‘Boneheads’ Squadron Reactivated at Tyndall, With F-35s Coming in August
Air & Space Forces Magazine: New F-22 Training Unit Welcomes First Student Pilots to Langley
Air & Space Forces Magazine: PHOTOS: US B-1 Bombers Land in Sweden for First Time
Defense One: Air Force Has Moved Families 15 Times to Evade LGTBQ+, Racial Discrimination
Defense One: Lockheed Fears L3Harris Will Block Access to Aerojet’s Rockets
The Cipher Brief: Top Marine Nominee Had a Hand in the Corps’ Transformation
19fortyfive.com: Putin Could Start a Nuclear War over Ukraine
The Cipher Brief: When It Comes to US-China Talks, Something ‘Vital’ is Still Missing
The Cipher Brief: Can Riyadh Leverage Failed Negotiations?
Forbes: Opinion: Five Pillars Of Boeing’s Strategy For Staying Ahead In National-Security Space
Calendar
WEDNESDAY | JUNE 21
9:30 a.m. — German Marshall Fund of the U.S. virtual discussion: “A Transatlantic Conversation: Climate and Security – The New Nexus,” with State Department Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry; European Commission High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell Fontelles; NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg; and European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans https://www.gmfus.org/event/transatlantic-conversation
10 a.m. 2118 Rayburn — House Armed Services Committee full committee markup of H.R.2670, the “National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2024”; and H.R.1282, the “Major Richard Star Act” https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings
10 a.m. HVC-210, U.S. Capitol — House Foreign Affairs Committee full committee markup of H.Res.488, calling on the Biden administration to immediately provide Army Tactical Missile Systems to Ukraine; H.R.3033, to repeal the sunset provision of the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996; H.R.4039, to prohibit the use of funds supporting any activities within Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China; H.R.1150, to establish the John Lewis Civil Rights Fellowship to fund international internships; and legislation to provide for the imposition of sanctions with respect to forced organ harvesting within the People’s Republic of China https://foreignaffairs.house.gov/markup
10 a.m. — Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks hosts the Fourth Estate Presidential Rank Award Ceremony for FY2021 and 2022 to honor 29 Defense Department career executives https://www.defense.gov/News/Live-Events
10:30 a.m. 106 Dirksen — Senate Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee markup of provisions that fall under the subcommittee’s jurisdiction of the proposed National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2024 https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings/subcommittee
2:30 p.m. 222 Russell — Senate Armed Services Committee CLOSED markup of S.822, the “Modification to Department of Defense Travel Authorities for Abortion-Related Expenses Act of 2023”; and the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2024 https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings
4:30 p.m. 1789 Massachusetts Ave. NW — American Enterprise Institute in-person and livestream event: “The Iraq War Series: The Aftermath,” with James Jeffrey, former national security adviser; Joel Rayburn, former U.S. special envoy for Syria; and Danielle Pletka, distinguished senior fellow, AEI https://www.aei.org/events/the-iraq-war-series
THURSDAY | JUNE 22
TBA Senate Chamber — The House and Senate hold a joint meeting to receive an address from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. For current information on the Senate’s legislative program, please check with contacts listed below https://www.senate.gov
9:30 a.m. 222 Russell — Senate Armed Services Committee full committee CLOSED markup of the proposed National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2024 https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings
12 p.m. — Institute for the Study of War virtual briefing and Q&A session about the “critical next phase” of the war in Ukraine, with Jennifer Cafarella, ISW director of strategic initiatives; and Mason Clark, ISW Russia team lead https://events.zoom.us
1 p.m. HVC-210, U.S. Capitol — House Foreign Affairs Europe Subcommittee hearing: “The Vilnius Summit and War in Ukraine: Assessing U.S. Policy towards Europe and NATO,” with testimony from Laura Cooper, deputy assistant defense secretary for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia; and Douglas Jones, deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs https://foreignaffairs.house.gov/hearing/the-vilnius-summit
3:30 p.m. — Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies release of policy paper: “Bolstering Arctic Domain Awareness to Deter Air and Missile Threats to the Homeland,” with Gen. Glen VanHerck, commander, U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command; and retired Air Force Lt. Gen. David Deptula, dean, Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies https://mitchellaerospacepower.org/event/6-22-policy-paper-release
FRIDAY | JUNE 23
9:30 a.m. 222 Russell — Senate Armed Services Committee full committee CLOSED markup of the proposed National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2024 https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings
10:30 a.m. — American Enterprise Institute remarks and a conversation: “The Future of US-China Policy,” with Republican 2024 presidential candidate Nikki Haley; Zack Cooper, senior fellow, AEI; and Robert Doar, president, AEI https://www.aei.org/events/remarks-and-a-conversation-with-amb-nikki-haley
11 a.m. River Entrance — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin welcomes Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto to the Pentagon
MONDAY | JUNE 26
3 p.m. — Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies release of policy paper: “Building U.S. Space Force Counterspace Capabilities: An Imperative for America’s Defense,” with author Charles Galbreath, senior resident fellow for space studies, Mitchell Institute; Maj. Gen. David Miller, director of operations, U.S. Space Force; Robert Atkin, vice president, special space systems, General Atomics; and moderated by retired Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton https://mitchellaerospacepower.org/event/6-27-policy-paper-release
WEDNESDAY | JUNE 28
12 p.m. — The Cyber Initiatives Group 2023 Summer Summit featuring “top cyber leaders discussing emerging cyber-related national security challenges” https://register.gotowebinar.com/register
THURSDAY | JUNE 29
10:30 a.m. — Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies release of policy paper: “Accelerating 5th-Generation Airpower: Bringing Capability and Capacity to the Merge,” with author and retired Lt. Gen. Joseph Guastella, former deputy Air Force chief of staff for operations and senior fellow, Mitchell Institute; Douglas Birkey, executive director, Mitchell Institute; Eric Gunzinger, former F-35 program manager for flight simulation test and evaluation; and retired Air Force Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian, former commander, U.S. Air Forces Europe, U.S. Air Forces Africa, and Allied Air Command https://mitchellaerospacepower.org/event/6-29-policy-paper-release]
FRIDAY | JULY 7
7 a.m. Brussels, Belgium — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg holds a news conference to preview the NATO summit in Vilnius https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“That’s what’s a great embarrassment for dictators, when they didn’t know what happened. That wasn’t supposed to be going where it was. It was blown off course up through Alaska and then down through the United States. And he didn’t know about it. When it got shot down, he was very embarrassed.”
President Joe Biden, asserting that Chinese President Xi Jinping had no idea what his military was doing with the spy balloon that traversed the U.S. earlier this year.
