China mocks Biden admin for being 'blind to the toxic mushroom cloud' over Ohio while obsessing over balloons | Fox News
By: Peter Kasperowicz (Fox News)
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Fox News White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich has the latest on President Biden's press conference to address the downing of unidentified objects on 'Special Report.'
China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday ridiculed the Biden administration for focusing its energies on harmless objects in U.S. airspace but playing down the giant chemical fire in Ohio that has thousands of residents worried about long-term health consequences.
The spokesman for the ministry, Wang Wenbin, was asked to respond to a claim from the White House that China was "deflecting" from the spy balloon incident by sanctioning U.S. companies this week. In response, Wang accused the Biden administration of continuing to focus on China even at the expense of the health of its own citizens.
"Speaking of 'deflecting,' can the U.S. tell us why it is able to see the 'balloon' 18,000 meters above the ground, but seems to have been blind to the toxic mushroom cloud of vinyl chloride over Ohio?" Wang said.
China took the Biden administration to task for shooting harmless objects out of the sky while downplaying the toxic chemical fire in Ohio.(Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
The jab came after the Biden administration has faced several days of criticism for downplaying the derailment of a train in East Palestine, Ohio, that was carrying toxic chemicals, including vinyl chloride. After the train derailed, the decision was made to burn off chemicals on the train in order to manage a controlled release into the air, in order to avoid a possible explosion.
That decision created a thick, black plume of smoke, and in the days that followed, people reported illness and the death of animals.
In the meantime, the Biden administration was accused of ignoring the incident. It took Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg 10 days to comment on the incident, and EPA Administrator Michael Regan visited the state 13 days after the derailment, a response that Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., called "unacceptable."
This week, Biden's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) turned down Ohio's request for federal aid to deal with the environmental disaster.
Wang also accused the Biden administration of staying silent on a controversial media report that President Biden may have ordered the destruction of the Nord Stream pipeline that supplies Russian energy to Europe.
"Why was it vocal about investigations and accountability immediately after the Nord Stream blast, and yet unusually silent in the wake of the latest investigative report written by a US journalist?" Wang asked.
After the Biden administration shot down China's spy balloon, it shot down three other objects of unknown origin. On Thursday, Biden acknowledged that none of these three objects were not likely to be connected to China's surveillance efforts.
"These three objects were most likely balloons tied to private companies, recreation or research institutions studying weather or conducting other scientific research," Biden said.
In this photo provided by Chad Fish, a large balloon drifts above the Atlantic Ocean, just off the coast of South Carolina, with a fighter jet and its contrail seen below it, on Saturday, Feb. 4.(Chad Fish via AP)
That admission prompted more goading from China on Friday.
"The U.S. also needs to explain: What exactly were the three high-altitude objects it shot down? If the U.S. does not consider the appearance of these objects in U.S. airspace to be irresponsible, why jab its fingers at China?"
Pete Kasperowicz is a politics editor at Fox News Digital.
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This must be fake news. We are told ad nauseum that the whole world respects the US because of the leadership on display from the Biden administration.
No Trump and his supporters or comments will be deleted.
The Chinese are laughing at the rightwing's hysteria!
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Right wing hysteria?
Try Brandon the Human Fuck Up Machine shooting down every damn UFO in US and Canadian airspace w/o getting visual identification first! No matter how many objects he shoots down it will not change the fact he allowed a massive Chinese spy balloon into US and Canadian airspace- and allowed it to traverse all across the US soaking up any data it wanted.
How long before Brandon takes down something other than a small private weather balloon; and causes some real damn harm?
Not to mention how ridiculous it is to use the most expensive US fighter and missiles to take down a damn balloon!
Exactly! [deleted]
Only in leftist dementia world.
Just a brutal few weeks for the Biden admin. First, they shoot down weather balloons while letting Chinese spy balloons traverse the country. Then Transportation Secretary. in the wake of absolutely massive environmental disaster caused by a train derailment, spends his time complaining about white construction workers and downplaying the destruction of a town because "derailments happen all the time."
Just three words to China and the CCP when the want to preach to other countries about disastrous man made environmental impacts. Three Gorges Dam!
This train derailment is very serious IMO. Reminds me of 3 mile island. To all the people that live anywhere near this area don’t listen to a damn thing they say about it being safe!
And Love Canal.......................
JD Vance challenged EPA Administrator Michael Regan to drink E. Palestine's tap water that comes from wells. So far, Regan hasn't accepted Vance's challenge. Need we wonder why?
He doesn’t want to end up like these raccoons.
Biden campaigned on remembering "the forgotten people". Seems he's forgotten about those in E. Palestine, OH.
They are the wrong demographic.
In Biden's bigoted world, they are.