SURFSIDE BEACH, South Carolina, Feb. 4 (Reuters) – A U.S. military jet shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday, which soured U.S.-China relations.
President Joe Biden said he ordered the balloon to be lowered Wednesday, but the Pentagon said it would do so in open water to protect civilians from debris falling thousands of feet (meters) over commercial aircraft. Several fighters and tankers were involved in the mission, but only one — his F-22 fighter from Langley Air Force Base, Virginia — shot down two of his:
At 39:39 p.m. (1939 GMT) he fired one of his AIM-9X supersonic air-to-air missiles, a senior US military official said.
China has strongly condemned the military attack on the airship, which it claims entered U.S. airspace “completely by accident”, used for meteorological and other scientific purposes.
U.S. officials said the balloon was launched in relatively shallow waters about six miles off the U.S. Atlantic coast and could help efforts to recover Chinese surveillance equipment in the coming days. A US military official said the debris was spread over 7 miles (11 km) of water and that several US warships were at the scene.
The balloon launch comes shortly after the US government ordered a moratorium on flights to and from her three airports in Wilmington, Myrtle Beach and Charleston, South Carolina. Saturday afternoon.
Saturday’s shooting ends the military side of the spy story, and Biden could continue to face tough political scrutiny from Republican opponents in Congress who say he didn’t act quickly enough.
Questions remain as to how much information China collected during the balloon’s transit over the United States.
The balloon he entered U.S. airspace over Alaska on January 1. 28 before entering Canadian airspace on January 30. It then reentered U.S. airspace over northern Idaho on Jan. 31, U.S. defense officials said. Once across US land, it did not return to the open ocean and was difficult to shoot down.
Suspected Chinese spy balloon drifts into sea after being shot down off Surfside Beach
US officials only publicly announced the balloon’s presence over the US on Thursday. Biden’s emphasis on Saturday that he ordered the balloons to be taken down as soon as possible a few days earlier may be an attempt to respond to such criticism.
Washington called the balloon’s appearance a “clear violation” of US sovereignty and notified Beijing of the launch on Saturday, US officials said.
Still, officials on Saturday appeared to downplay the impact balloons have on US national security.
The Pentagon believes the balloon is part of China’s spy balloon fleet. Another Chinese balloon was said to be flying over Latin America on Friday. Foreign Minister Anthony Blinken has postponed a visit to China this week, which was due to start on Friday, due to spy balloon suspicions.
China is keen on a stable relationship with the United States, hit by a now-abandoned zero-coronavirus policy and ignored by foreign investors wary of market views seen as a return of government intervention.
