The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael Roth (SPD), has taken the crisis surrounding the alleged Chinese spy balloon as a sign of a further deterioration in US-Chinese relations.
Foreign politician Michael Roth (SPD) is critical of US-Chinese relations after the alleged Chinese spy balloon. “The balloon and the heated debate about it in the USA are a foretaste of the escalating conflict between China and the USA in the next few years,” Roth told the editorial network Germany (RND). The shooting down of the balloon by the USA was correct. However, US President Joe Biden was under massive pressure from the Republicans, who wanted to discredit him as weak in foreign policy. “At the same time, President Xi has been pursuing an expansive foreign policy for years. That makes managing relationships increasingly difficult,” Roth said.
On the other hand, the CDU foreign politician Norbert Röttgen insisted that the balloon crisis would only affect relations in the short term. “In my view, it is a Chinese glitch that nevertheless required an American response,” Röttgen told RND. “However, I assume that neither side will let this deter them from their planned course for longer than necessary. And that consists in not being completely speechless in the pronounced power struggle on both sides.”
