WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military on Saturday shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the Carolina coast after it traversed sensitive military sites across North America. China claimed the incident involving a civilian plane was accidental and threatened with repercussions.
The order was issued by President Joe Biden, but he wanted it to be taken down even sooner on Wednesday. According to U.S. officials, the ideal time would be over water. Officials at the military determined that it would be an undue danger to those on ground if it was brought down from an elevation of 60,000 feet.
China replied that China reserves the right “take further actions”And he criticized the U.S. “an obvious overreaction and a serious violation of international practice.”
In its statement Sunday, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that “China will resolutely uphold the relevant company’s legitimate rights and interests, and at the same time reserving the right to take further actions in response.”
This week’s presence of the balloon above the U.S. caused a serious blow to already strained relations between the U.S. and China, which have been on a downward slope for many years. It prompted Secretary of State Antony Blinken to abruptly cancel a high-stakes Beijing trip aimed at easing tensions.
“They successfully took it down and I want to compliment our aviators who did it,”Biden spoke after getting off Air Force One, en route towards Camp David.
It was seen as the orb approached the Atlantic coast Saturday morning. At 2:39 PM EST an F-22 fighter plane fired a missile on the balloon. It was approximately 6 nautical miles from the coast of Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. Senior defense officials confirmed that the bombing occurred.
Americans looked up at the sky for the mystery balloon, and wondered if it had sailed over their heads.
On Saturday, Ashlyn Preaux, 33, went out to get her mail in Forestbrook, South Carolina, and noticed her neighbors looking up — and there it was, the balloon in the cloudless blue sky. She saw fighter planes flying overhead and then the balloon was hit.
“I did not anticipate waking up to be in a ‘Top Gun’ movie today,”She said.
The debris fell into 47 feet of shallow water. Officials estimated that the recovery effort would take a few days, and not several weeks. The salvage ship was on its way.
U.S. Defense and Military officials claimed Saturday that the ballon entered the U.S. aerial defense zone north the Aleutian Islands, Jan. 28. It then moved over land to Alaska before entering Canadian airspace in Northwest Territories. The White House stated that the balloon crossed into the U.S. territory above northern Idaho on Tuesday.
The balloon was spotted Thursday over Montana, home to Malmstrom Air Force Base, which has fields of nuclear missile silos.
According to two top defense officials, the Americans had the opportunity to gather intelligence about the balloon while it flew above the United States. This gave them several days to examine it, learn its movements, and determine what surveillance capabilities it might have. Reporters were briefed by the officials under anonymity.
The officials said the U.S. military was constantly assessing the threat, and concluded that the technology on the balloon didn’t give the Chinese significant intelligence beyond what it could already obtain from satellites, though the U.S. took steps to mitigate what information it could gather as it moved along.
Republicans were critical of Biden’s response.
“Allowing a spy balloon from the Communist Party of China to travel across the entire continental United States before contesting its presence is a disastrous projection of weakness by the White House,”Roger Wicker from Mississippi, the Senate Armed Services Committee’s most powerful Republican member.
Senator Thom Tillis R-N.C. tweeted: “Now that this embarrassing episode is over, we need answers from the Biden Administration on the decision-making process. Communist China was allowed to violate American sovereignty unimpeded for days. We must be better prepared for future provocations and incursions by the CCP.”
R-S.C. Senator Lindsey Graham was positiver “Thank you to the men and women of the United States military who were responsible for completing the mission to shoot down the Chinese surveillance balloon. The Biden Administration did the right thing in bringing it down.”
China claimed the balloon was simply a tool for weather research “airship”That was a mistake. The Pentagon rejected that out of hand — as well as China’s contention that it was not being used for surveillance and had only limited navigational ability.
The Chinese government on Saturday sought to play down the cancellation of Blinken’s trip. “In actuality, the U.S. and China have never announced any visit, the U.S. making any such announcement is their own business, and we respect that,” China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
Reports of another balloon over Latin America were also confirmed by the Pentagon. “We now assess it is another Chinese surveillance balloon,” Brig. In a statement, Gen. Pat Ryder (Panel Press Secretary) said. Officials stated that the balloons belong to a Chinese fleet used for surveillance. They can also be remotely controlled using small motors or propellers. Officials said that they have equipment under the balloon which isn’t usually used for civilian research or standard meteorological activities.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a question about the second balloon.
This isn’t the first time Chinese spy balloons have crossed into U.S. airspace in recent years, one of the officials said. At least three times during the Trump administration and at least one other time during Biden’s time as president they’ve seen balloons cross, but not for this long, the official said.
Blinken was due to leave Washington late Friday for Beijing. He said that he had spoken with Wang Yi, a senior Chinese diplomat, about sending the balloon above the U.S. “an irresponsible act and that (China’s) decision to take this action on the eve of my visit is detrimental to the substantive discussions that we were prepared to have.”
The official U.S. position that China was exaggerating the situation was confirmed by uncensored responses to the Chinese internet. Some used it as a chance to poke fun at U.S. defenses, saying it couldn’t even defend against a balloon, and nationalist influencers leaped to use the news to mock the U.S.
China denies any spying allegations and says the balloon is civilian-use, intended to conduct meteorology research. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized that the balloon’s journey was out of its control and urged the U.S. not to “smear”Because of the balloon.
Preparing for Saturday’s operation, the Federal Aviation Administration temporarily shut down airspace over Carolina. It included airports at Myrtle Beach and Charleston (South Carolina) and Wilmington (North Carolina). FAA warned that delays could occur due to the restrictions on flight traffic and redirected air traffic. Coast Guard and FAA worked together to remove the balloon from the airspace.
Television footage revealed a small explosion followed by the massive balloon falling toward the sea like a ribbon.
Bill Swanson claimed that he witnessed the balloon instantly deflate from his home in Myrtle Beach, as fighter jets flew around.
“When it deflated it was pretty close to instantaneous,”He said. “One second it’s there like a tiny moon and the next second it’s gone.”Swanson also said that smoke trails followed the balloon’s descent.
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Chris Megerian from Hagerstown Md., Associated Press reportersThis report was contributed by Henry Hou, a Beijing researcher, and Tara Copp, Mary Clare Jalonick, in Washington.
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