As long as he was above land, it was impossible to fire, protection of civilians required. But as soon as the Chinese balloon, which flew over the United States for several days, passed the coast, the signal was given. An F-22 fighter shot down the balloon off South Carolina on Saturday, while it was flying at an altitude of 18 kilometers. Its debris fell about 11 kilometers from the coast, its plume extending for about 11 kilometers also, in relatively shallow water.
General Glen VanHerck, commander of US forces in North America, said Sunday that the Navy was conducting “recovery operations, with the assistance of the US Coast Guard to secure the area and maintain public safety”. The Pentagon claims it is a spy balloon “used by the People’s Republic of China in an attempt to monitor strategic sites” in the United States. Beijing assures that it was a weather surveillance aircraft that deviated from its trajectory.
Beijing “reserves the right” to respond
The overflight of the territory of the United States continues to deteriorate Sino-American relations. He had already caused last week the cancellation at the last minute of a visit to Beijing by the head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, the first planned at this level since 2018. On Monday, the Chinese government accused the United States of having “seriously affected” relations between the two countries by shooting him down.
China has repeatedly protested against the United States’ decision to shoot down the aircraft, and Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng warned on Sunday that Beijing “reserves the right” to retaliate. “US actions have severely affected and damaged both parties’ efforts and progress to stabilize China-US relations since the Bali meeting” between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping in November, he said in a statement on Monday. .
Critical Republicans
The case also agitates American politics, the Republican opposition accusing President Joe Biden this weekend of not having had a faster and firmer response. “As always, when it comes to national security and foreign policy, the Biden administration has responded too indecisively at first, then too late,” said Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.
“We should not have let the People’s Republic of China ridicule our airspace,” he blasted in a statement, calling the case a “missed opportunity” to defend American “sovereignty”. “Downing the balloon over the water was not only the safest option, but also the one that maximized the information gathered” by recovering the remains of the craft, retorted the leader of the Democrats on Sunday. Senate, Chuck Schumer. This will “analyze the technology used by the Chinese military”, he said, adding that a closed-door briefing on the case, for all senators, is scheduled for February 15.
The aircraft first entered US airspace on January 28, north of the Aleutian Islands, Alaska. He then entered Canadian airspace on January 30, then returned to the American side, at Idaho in the northwestern United States, on January 31.
On Friday, the Colombian Air Force also said it detected another object with “balloon-like characteristics”, and Beijing acknowledged it was a “surveillance” craft. “of a civilian nature”, which had “seriously drifted off course” due to the climate.