After the US military shot down a suspected spy balloon from China, the debris is being salvaged. The FBI federal police are involved in the evaluation, US media reported on Sunday (local time) in unison. According to the Pentagon, the debris lay about 11 kilometers off the coast of South Carolina in relatively shallow water.
US fighter jets shot down the balloon over the Atlantic on Saturday after the flying object had flown over the United States for several days. The US accused China of spying on the balloon. Beijing protested against the “overreaction” and rejected the allegations. The USA hopes that the evaluation will provide information about the technical capabilities of the balloon.
US President Joe Biden says he ordered the balloon to be shot down “as soon as possible”. However, a risk for the people on the ground should be ruled out, so it was decided to only take the flying object out of the sky over the sea.
Concern also in Germany
Several US Republicans sharply criticized Biden’s actions. Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina wrote on Twitter: “Now that this embarrassing episode is over we need answers from the Biden administration about the decision-making process. Communist China has been allowed to violate American sovereignty unhindered for days. We must wait for future provocations and abuses China’s better prepared.”
The incident also caused concern in Germany. SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich said in the ARD program “Report from Berlin”: “That worries us a lot – including me personally, because I think we have to be careful that another major international conflict does not arise here.”
The CDU foreign politician Norbert Röttgen expressed the expectation that the balloon dispute would only briefly affect the relationship between China and the USA. “In my view, it is a Chinese glitch that nevertheless required an American response,” Röttgen told RND. “However, I assume that this will not allow either side to be diverted from their planned course any longer than necessary. And this consists of not being completely speechless in the pronounced power struggle between the two sides.”