Q&A Kirby on Chinese Surveillance Balloons USAGM
Metadata
- Q&A Kirby on Chinese Surveillance Balloons USAGM
- February 11, 2023
- Washington sharing information with other countries about global surveillance operation by China’s People’s Liberation Army
- Content Type Interview
- Language English
- Transcript/Script 00;00 VOA: Alright. Thank you John for coming to the interview. We’ll start with the news of the hour - the Chinese spy balloon. China still denies the balloon is for spying, blames the U.S. for shooting it down and refused to take Secretary Austin’s call. How do you read China’s handling of the whole situation? NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL COORDINATOR FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS JOHN KIRBY: I don't think that we're particularly surprised necessarily by Chinese denials. Look, we had time to collect information about this, to survey this device. We're confident in what we've been saying – that it was in fact a surveillance balloon, that it is not uncommon for the PLA to contract out for these kinds of capabilities. We know that they have flown them over 40 to 50 other countries, we're reaching out to those countries as we speak, and now we're going to recover the remains, the debris that's on the bottom of the, off the coast of the Carolinas and we'll learn even more. But there's no question in our mind what this was, and what the Chinese were trying to do with this particular surveillance balloon. There's certainly no question that it was an egregious violation of our sovereign airspace. And the President acted to protect our sensitive military sites, and he also acted in a way that protected the American people on the ground. VOA: You mentioned that the United States already talked to I think 40 countries regarding this information together. Will the U.S. also advise those countries to shoot down the balloons that will show up in their territory and also share the information once they collect the data? KIRBY: We're spending time and energy notifying these countries of the forensic work that we have done. And what we know this particular spy balloon program by the PLA is up to, that's the focus of those conversations. VOA: So you would not advise other countries? KIRBY: It is for countries to make sovereign decisions about what they will or won't do, particularly when there are violations, deliberate violations, not accidental, of their sovereign airspace, but that's up for them to decide. VOA: Sure. Does the administration believe the balloon program was sent without Xi Jinping’s knowledge and what action is the United States planning as a result? KIRBY: I think we'll let the Chinese speak to their decision-making process. We're confident that this was a PRC surveillance asset. It is very much in keeping with a program we know that the PLA contracts for, a capability, a surveillance balloon capability. VOA: So the sanctions will be against PLA? KIRBY: I don't have anything with respect to sanctions to speak to right now. 02;43 VOA: During the State of the Union, President Biden went off his script and said, ‘Name me a global leader who would change places with Xi Jinping. Name me one.’ Why did the President say that and what does he mean by it? KIRBY: The president has actually said this many times before. His point is that the PRC is not 10 feet tall. That this is a country large and vast, though it is, it's having struggles economically, he's got domestic problems as well as home. They are still, whether they, they haven't been totally transparent about COVID, but they're still in the throes of some of the pandemic’s after effects. And I think the President's point was, in this strategic competition of ours, the United States is uniquely poised to succeed. 03;34 VOA: Would the United States. I'm sorry, that was the first question I already asked about shooting it down but you said the information will not be shared. So I want to move on to Russia. The Wagner group claims to have stopped recruiting Russian convicts for the war in Ukraine. Can the US intelligence confirm this? KIRBY: I'll let Mr. Prigozhin speak for his recruiting tactics. Perhaps one of the reasons he's not, maybe not recruiting out of prisons is because he's already emptied all of them. We know that he's been throwing a lot of convicts into this fight. And that he has a personal stake here in trying to upstage the defense ministry, and probably has a personal stake in some of the economic gains that could be wrought after say, they’ve taken Bakhmut, and they haven't by the way, but there's a gypsum mine there and it's not unlike Mr. Prigozhin to want to hold territory that he thinks could stand to some economic benefit to his company. But as for what their, you know, the status of their recruiting again, I’d let them speak to that. The larger point is that Mr. Putin, after repeatedly failing to achieve any strategic objectives inside Ukraine, is now increasingly relying on others to prop up his effort. He's going into Iran to buy drones. He's, he's venturing out to North Korea to get artillery shells, and now he's using a guy like Mr. Prigozhin, a private military contractor, to actually conduct military operations on the battlefield. I think that says a lot about how much Mr. Putin realizes his own military has been failing to achieve the objectives that he set it out to do in this brutal war of his. VOA: Let’s stay on the topic of Russia and Ukraine. President Zelenskyy said his country had intercepted plans by a Russian Secret Service to destroy Moldova. Can you confirm this information? KIRBY: I’m not able to confirm that reporting. VOA: And Russia also launched a fresh wave of missile attacks across Ukraine today. What can the U.S. do to help Ukraine defend its skies more effectively? Is sending fighter jets like Zelenskyy was asking in the UN just yesterday still a hard no? KIRBY: We’ve prioritized air defense and many of the recent security assistance packages that we've been giving Ukraine. As you know, we also announced that we're going to be providing a whole Patriot battery. In fact, the training for Ukrainian soldiers to use that Patriot battery is going on right now in Oklahoma. So we're taking this very seriously. And you can see again, we've prioritized air defense, whether it's short, medium, or long range for much of the last few weeks and months, and we're gonna continue to do that going forward. VOA: On Ukraine getting the fighter jets. What’s the U.S. … KIRBY: Again, I'm not gonna get ahead of decisions that haven't been made yet. We continue to evolve our contributions as the war evolves itself. Secretary Blinken talked about this yesterday, that will continue. We're in lockstep talking to the Ukrainians almost every day. VOA: One more question on Ukraine before we move to Iran. So Moscow announced Chinese President Xi Jinping will be visiting Russia, probably at the anniversary of the invasion, but China still hasn't confirmed that. In your opinion, why is Russia eager to make that announcement while China is reluctant? KIRBY: Difficult for me to get inside the Russian brain and try to figure out what they're doing and saying and what the reasons behind it are. I will just say this, without confirming this trip or what Russia's motivations for speaking to it are. Mr. Putin is isolated, he has made his country even more of a pariah than it already was after they invaded Ukraine the first time in 2014. And he's desperate for assistance, because the exports and export controls and the sanctions have taken a big bite out of his defense industrial progress. He's having trouble supplying micro electronics for cruise missiles. He's going, as I said, reaching out to Iran for drones, reaching out to North Korea for ammunition, and he’s relying on private military contractors. This is a man who does not have a lot of friends in the world and he doesn't have a lot of sympathetic ears for this brutal unprovoked war of his. And so, of course, he's been, you know, he's been courting President Xi for quite some time. I would note and you might recall a few months ago in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting that was held, early fall, late summer, whatever it was, President Xi publicly upbraided Mr. Putin for the manner in which he's conducting this war. And I think that that made an impact on Mr. Putin. Now, look, China has choices to make. We have been very clear. We've certainly been clear about the choice that we've made. And much of the rest of the world has been clear about the choices that they've made. 143 nations voting at the UN Security Council to condemn Russia's annexation of territory inside Ukraine. 50 some odd countries meeting now for eight times to provide security contributions to Ukraine through the Contact Group that Secretary Austin set up. We'd love to see China join the rest of the world. Stop buying Russian oil at prices above the cap, publicly condemn what Mr. Putin is doing to the Ukrainian people. Which is absolutely, you know, just indefensible in terms of the brutality that he's visiting upon Ukrainian towns and Ukrainian people, and join the rest of the world and being willing to not only hold Mr. Putin accountable, but to support Ukraine. 09;17 VOA: So I would like to circle back to China just for a minute since we're talking about Xi Jinping’s position. So you know, after the ballooning incident, of course we see the United States and China kind of have that relationship which is already fragile, impacted. So how much goodwill is still left between the two countries, especially after the Bali meeting between President Biden and Xi Jingping? KIRBY: Yeah. VOA: And how confident are you that it can be rebuilt? KIRBY: The President spoke to this at the State of the Union. We don't seek conflict with China. And we do want to keep the lines of communication open, especially at a time like this. When things are really tense, you want those lines open, so we still want that. But we do seek a strategic competition, a competition that the President believes that the United States is well poised to come out on top. And being able to manage that competition responsibly means being able to get some of these dialogues back in place. Whether it's the military-to-military channels that President Xi shut down or the issues on climate change that he shut down, those fora, we'd like to see those back in place. Now's not the appropriate time for the Secretary of State to go to Beijing, given what the Chinese decided to do with respect to this surveillance balloon. And when it is the appropriate time, we’ll be willing to have those discussions with Beijing about the next step here in this relationship. I think the whole world, and you heard President Biden talk about this in Bali, the whole world is expecting that these two countries are going to manage this most consequential of bilateral relationships in a responsible, forthright, prudent manner. That is where President Biden still is. That's where he wants to take it. And his ability to do that is not helped by this egregious violation of our airspace. 11;09 VOA: And we’ll end the interview with Iran questions. There was absolutely no mention of Iran in the State of the Union. Why is that? KIRBY: The President spoke, I think very, very eloquently about the power of American global leadership; how important it is to the world. And it is on many fronts, and that includes how we're handling our relationships throughout the Middle East. And the things that we are doing, to continue to make sure we are prepared for the threats that Iran poses not just to the region, but even beyond ,whether that's support for terrorist networks, maritime threats, support, oh, by the way to Russia, to helping literally and directly helping Russia in his prosecution of the war in Ukraine and the President talked about that war in Ukraine and how important it is for us to continue to help Ukraine succeed on the battlefield. VOA: But John, you didn't answer the question. Why wasn’t Iran mentioned in the State of the Union? KIRBY: The President offered a broad sweeping, I think, and very important and very critical definition of what American foreign policy is all about. And it's about the convening power of the United States. It's about standing up and defending some of our values. And certainly our interests, values and interests that are inimical to our being are being challenged by countries that are inimical to those interests, like Iran. VOA: Last question. Is there a deal to revive JCPOA or negotiations on prisoner swap? KIRBY: The JCPOA is not our focus right now. It's not on the agenda. What is on the agenda is holding the regime accountable for the way it's treating its own people, holding them accountable for the way they are exporting violence and terrorism in the region and holding them accountable as we must and should for the way they're helping Russia kill Ukrainians. VOA: A prisoner swap. Do we have any…? KIRBY: I don't have anything to report on that. VOA: Thank you so much. That's all my questions. KIRBY: You bet.
- NewsML Media Topics Arts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
- Network VOA
- Embargo Date February 10, 2023 20:13 EST
- Byline Paris Huang, Patsy Widakuswara
- Brand / Language Service Voice of America - English