U.S. President Joe Biden said in his State of the Union address on Tuesday that he would cooperate with great power rival China, but vowed "to protect our country," a reference to a Chinese spy balloon that traveled across America last week.
"I'm committed to work with China where we can advance American interests and benefit the world," Biden said. "But make no mistake about it: as we made clear last week, if China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country. And we did."
