The Biden administration gave the military the green light to shoot down a suspected Chinese high-altitude spy balloon, with a fighter jet downing the balloon off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday.

The problem for the day late and a dollar short Biden administration is that the decision to take the balloon out was made only after letting it meander across the continental United States for a week, including loitering over some of the nation’s most sensitive military bases and no doubt transmitting information back to China.

The Biden administration’s response to this blatant violation of American airspace and national sovereignty was underwhelming.

America military officials offered up antiseptic briefings.

“The United States government has detected and is tracking a high-altitude surveillance balloon that is over the continental United States right now,” Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder nonchalantly told reporters on Jan. 28.

“The balloon is currently traveling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic and does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground,” he added.

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, in a typical display of consular jargon minimizing the seriousness of China’s offense against America, announced the postponement of his planned trip to China in response to the reconnaissance balloon that was moving east across the nation at the time.

“This is an unacceptable as well as irresponsible action,” America’s top diplomat said on Friday. “It’s even more irresponsible coming on the eve of a long-planned visit.”

President Joe Biden himself was mostly AWOL during the international incident, refusing to take reporters’ questions on the situation as it played out before the shoot-down.  

Indeed, several important questions remain unanswered at this time.

Presumably, the balloon was tracked well in advance of crossing into North American airspace – passing over Alaska and western Canada before entering the continental U.S. – so why wasn’t it brought down before then?

Given that the Biden administration declined to shoot down the balloon while it was lollygagging across the continental U.S. – citing concerns about falling debris – why at the very least, was the balloon not brought down while it was traversing sparsely populated Alaska or even Canada?

How was it that the Biden administration was caught so flat-footed in this affair, allowing America to once again be embarrassed on the world stage?

Beyond America’s international humiliation, the Biden administration’s lackadaisical response to a hostile foreign power’s spy balloon transiting the length of the U.S. before being brought down sends a dangerous signal to China.

While balloons might be redundant in terms of espionage technology – satellites and drones are far more capable than airships – this appears to be a probing action by the Chinese government, meant to poke a finger in Biden’s eye and assess his response.

China is sending an unmistakable message that it is not afraid to provoke America.

Biden’s flaccid response all but guarantees more goading – and worse – by the Sino menace.