Biden urged to address China's actions after spy balloon incident.

President Biden wanted to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping after the US military shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon off the coast of South Carolina, but his top national security advisers talked him out of it. Instead, the advisers suggested beginning outreach to Beijing with lower or midlevel officials and working the way up to the top. The US-China relationship has been strained, with China rejecting formal discussions between Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Chinese counterpart. Despite economic and diplomatic communications between the two countries, China continues to reject formal discussions.