China’s foreign ministry said Sunday it expressed strong displeasure and objection to the use of force by the United States to attack its balloon. Washington said it suspected it was a Chinese spy balloon that was shot down by a US fighter jet off the Carolina. on Saturday, a week after it entered US airspace.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry, in a brief statement, said Washington’s decision to shoot down the balloon was an “overreaction” and a “serious violation of international practice.”
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said that “China expresses its strong indignation and protest against the use of force by the United States to attack an unmanned civilian airship,” stressing that it “reserves the right to provide further necessary responses.”
A week after it entered US airspace, the US military, on Saturday orders from President Joe Biden, shot down a Chinese balloon that had been flying over the United States for several days, causing great tension between Washington and Beijing.
U.S. President Joe Biden congratulated the army on its success in carrying out the precision projection operation, saying he had given orders on Wednesday to shoot down the balloon “as soon as possible” but the Pentagon wanted to wait “until it was in the safest place to do so.” to avoid possible damage from falling debris.
Operations are underway to lift the wreckage of the airship, involving divers, and a senior military official said the wreckage had landed in shallow water, which would “make it very easy.” And in videos broadcast by American channels, it was shown that the balloon falls vertically.
According to Pentagon officials, at the time of the fall, the balloon was at an altitude of 18 kilometers above sea level and 11 kilometers from the coast.
