The American decision did not please. Beijing was critical on Sunday of the United States, which shot down the Chinese balloon the day before, which had been flying over the country for several days. “China expresses its strong dissatisfaction and protests against the use of force by the United States,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement, accusing Washington of “clearly overreacting and seriously violating the practices international”. Beijing said it had “clearly asked the United States to handle the situation properly, in a calm, professional and restrained manner”.
China “will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of companies involved” in the incident, the ministry added, saying the country reserves “the right” to retaliate.
Joe Biden had given the order, as of Wednesday, to shoot down the balloon “as soon as possible”, but the Pentagon wanted to wait “for the safest place to do so”, in order to avoid any damage to the ground during the fallout any debris. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Saturday expressed his country’s support for the US decision “to shoot down China’s high-altitude surveillance balloon that violated US and Canadian airspace and international law. “. Before entering United States airspace, the craft had flown over Canada.
After several days of flying over North America, he was shot down on Saturday by a missile launched from an F-22 fighter jet, about 11 km off the coast of South Carolina, explained Pentagon officials. It was then about 18 km above sea level. Joe Biden congratulated the pilots who carried out “successfully” this delicate operation. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin called the operation a “deliberate and lawful action” in response to an “unacceptable violation of our sovereignty” by China.
Debris searched for in the water
Recovery operations, which could involve divers, are now underway. The debris is in shallow water, “that’s going to make it pretty easy,” a senior military official said.
On Thursday, US officials first revealed that they were tracking a massive Chinese “surveillance balloon” over the United States. According to Pentagon officials, the balloon first entered US airspace on January 28 over Alaska, before entering Canada on January 30 and then returning to US airspace at level of Idaho, in the northwestern United States, on Tuesday.
VIDEO. US shot down Chinese ‘spy’ balloon
The Americans only learned of the balloon’s existence on Thursday, when it was over Montana, which is home to nuclear missile silos. He then gradually moved towards the east of the country. The Pentagon estimated that this balloon “was used by the People’s Republic of China in an attempt to monitor strategic sites” in the United States.
After hesitating, Beijing admitted that the “aircraft” was Chinese, but assured that it was a balloon intended to collect meteorological data. It would have “deviated from its trajectory”, added a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, expressing the “regrets” of his country for this “involuntary” violation of American airspace.
This case has indeed caused an increase in tensions between Washington and Beijing. The head of diplomacy, Anthony Blinken, canceled a rare visit to Beijing on Friday, which was to help calm relations with China. She would have been the first by a US Secretary of State since October 2018.