乔·拜登总统表示，在上周末下令击落三架飞越北美领空的不明飞行物时，他“非常谨慎”。
虽然美国军方仍在努力寻找这些物体，美国情报官员仍在评估它们，但拜登说，目前没有任何迹象表明它们与中国的监视项目有关，也没有迹象表明它们是来自其他国家的监视车辆。
拜登说:“但毫无疑问，如果任何物体对美国人民的安全和保障构成威胁，我会将其摧毁。”
关于中国的监测气球，拜登补充说:“我没有为取下那个气球道歉。”
总统周四的讲话是他第一次就这个问题发表广泛评论，这是在中国间谍气球在蒙大拿州上空被发现两个多星期后。他面临着两党议员越来越多的呼吁，要求提高对公众的透明度。
拜登在结束讲话时拒绝回答记者提出的问题，其中包括一个问题，即击落这三个物体是否是他在政治压力下的过度反应。
尽管美国全国广播公司新闻记者后来说，拜登后来打电话作出回应，称他在下令取下这些物品时没有回应政治压力。
1月28日至2月4日期间穿越美国大陆的气球给本已紧张的美中关系增添了紧张气氛。共和党人批评拜登没有早些采取行动击落气球，尽管他说他下令尽快击落气球，但他的军事顾问说在陆地上这样做风险太大。
他说:“我们一直等到它安全地越过水面，这不仅可以保护平民，还可以让我们回收大量的部件进行进一步的分析。”“然后我们击落了它，发出了一个明确的信息，明确的信息:侵犯我们的主权是不可接受的。我们将采取行动保护我们的国家，我们做到了。”
拜登说，美国在过去两周一直在与中国接触，他希望与习近平主席对话，“弄清事情的真相”
“自从我上任伊始，我们就寻求竞争，而不是与中国发生冲突。我们不寻求新的冷战，”拜登说。“但我不会道歉，我们会竞争。”
间谍气球被击落后，美国军方连续三天击落了三个不明飞行物——一个在阿拉斯加上空，一个在加拿大上空，第三个在密歇根州休伦湖上空。
拜登说，美国与加拿大进行了协调，并补充说，他在周末亲自与加拿大总理贾斯廷·特鲁多进行了交谈。两军目前正在合作回收残骸。
政府尚未确认这些物体是什么或来自哪里，尽管白宫发言人约翰·柯比本周早些时候表示，情报界的一个“主要解释”是，这些物体可能用于商业或良性用途。
拜登周四回应了这一观点，称尽管他们仍不确定，但这些物体“很可能是绑在私营公司、娱乐或研究机构上的气球”，用于气象或科学研究。
“我想澄清的是，我们没有任何证据表明天空中的物体数量突然增加，”拜登说。“我们现在只是看到了更多的它们，部分原因是我们采取了增加雷达的措施。”
一项跨部门审查正在进行，以研究更广泛的政策含义，用于探测和分析造成安全或安保风险的不明飞行物。
“他们正在继续努力提出参数...这项工作仍在继续，但你会听到总统的声音，他将对过去几天发生的事情进行更新，”白宫新闻秘书让-皮埃尔周四谈到跨机构审查时说。她此前曾表示，他们的工作预计将在本周末完成。
拜登周四表示，新的参数将指导政府未来采取的行动，包括更好地跟踪无人驾驶空中物体，更新发射无人驾驶物体的规则和法规。
他说:“这些措施将为我们的航空旅客、我们的军队、我们的科学家以及地面上的人们带来更安全、更有保障的天空。”。"作为你们的总统和总司令，这是我的职责."
'I'll take it down': Biden vows action but says 3 objects shot down not spy vehicles
President Joe Biden said he "acted out of an abundance of caution" when ordering the shooting down of three unidentified aerial objects flying over North American airspace this past weekend.
While the U.S. military is still working to recover the objects and U.S. intelligence officials are still assessing them, Biden said nothing currently suggests they were related to China's surveillance program or that they were surveillance vehicles from other countries.
"But make no mistake, if any object presents a threat to the safety and security of the American people, I will take it down," Biden said.
On the Chinese surveillance balloon, Biden added: "I make no apologies for taking down that balloon."
The president's remarks on Thursday were the first time he's commented extensively on the issue, coming more than two weeks after the Chinese spy balloon was spotted over Montana. He faced growing calls from lawmakers on both sides for greater transparency with the public.
Biden declined to answer questions shouted by reporters as he wrapped his remarks, including a question about whether the shootdowns of the three objects were an overreaction on his part prompted by political pressure.
Though the NBC News reporter later said Biden called later to respond, stating he was not responding to political pressure when he gave the orders to take down the objects.
President Joe Biden speaks about the Chinese surveillance balloon and other unidentified objects shot down by the U.S. military, Feb. 16, 2023, in Washington.
Evan Vucci/AP
The balloon that traversed the continental U.S. between Jan. 28 and Feb. 4 added tension to the already fraught U.S.-China relationship. Biden was criticized by Republicans for not taking action to shoot the balloon down earlier, though he said he ordered it be taken down as soon as possible but his military advisers said it was too risky to do over land.
"We waited until it was safely over water, which would not only protect civilians but it also enable us to recover substantial components for further analytics," he said. "And then we shot it down, sending a clear message, clear message: the violation of our sovereignty is unacceptable. We'll act to protect our country and we did."
Biden said the U.S. has been engaging with China over the past two weeks and that he expects to speak with President Xi Jinping to "get to the bottom of this."
"Since the beginning of my administration we seek competition, not conflict with China. We're not looking for a new cold war," Biden said. "But I make no apologies and we will compete."
After the spy balloon was shot down, three unidentified aerial objects were also downed by the U.S. military over three successive days -- one over Alaska, one over Canada and the third over Lake Huron in Michigan.
The U.S. acted in coordination with Canada, Biden said, adding that he personally spoke to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over the weekend. The two militaries are currently working together to recover debris.
The administration has yet to confirm what those objects were or where they came from, though White House spokesperson John Kirby said earlier this week a "leading explanation" within the intelligence community is that the objects may have been for commercial or benign use.
Biden echoed that sentiment Thursday, saying while they still don't know for sure, the objects were "most likely balloons tied to private companies, recreation or research institutions" for weather purposes or scientific research.
"I want to be clear we don't have any evidence that there has been a sudden increase in the number of objects in the sky," Biden said. "We're now just seeing more of them, partially because of the steps we've taken to increase our radars."
An interagency review has been underway to study broader policy implications for detecting and analyzing unidentified aerial objects that pose either safety or security risks.
"They are continuing to work intensively to put forward parameters ... that work is continuing but you will hear from the president and he will give an update on what has occurred over the last several days," White House press secretary Jean-Pierre said Thursday of the interagency review. She had previously said their work was expected to be done by the end of the week.
Biden said Thursday the new parameters will guide what actions the administration takes going forward, which will include keeping better track of unmanned airborne objects and updates to the rules and regulations for launching unmanned objects.
"These steps will lead to safer and more secure skies for our air travelers, our military, our scientists and for people on the ground as well," he said. "That's my job as your president and commander in chief."
