We have our first taste of how different conducting foreign policy will
be for President Joe Biden now that Republicans control the House. 

The Pentagon revealed Thursday afternoon that it has detected and is
tracking a large Chinese spy balloon floating in the stratosphere above
Montana, where it was surveilling a nuclear missile base. The balloon,
which entered U.S. airspace on Tuesday, is well above the altitude at
which commercial aircraft fly, and Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen.
Pat Ryder insisted that it “does not present a military or physical
threat to people on the ground.”

Officials also noted that it’s not the first time one of these balloons
has been spotted in American airspace in recent years — including during
the Trump administration. But another official said the balloon has
lingered longer than the others.

“It is appearing to hang out for a long period of time this time around,
more persistent than in previous instances,” the official said. 

D.C.-based China correspondent Phelim Kine joins to break down the
reaction from Washington in the midst of already high tensions with
China.

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Raghu Manavalan is the host and senior editor of POLITICO's Playbook
Daily Briefing.
Jenny Ament is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.