The United States has downed a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the Carolina coast after it traversed sensitive military sites across North America and became the latest flashpoint in tensions between Washington and Beijing.
An operation was under way on Saturday (NZT Sunday) in US territorial waters in the Atlantic Ocean to recover debris from the balloon, which had been flying at about 60,000 feet and was estimated to be about the size of three school buses. The balloon was downed by Air Force fighter aircraft, according to two officials who were not authorised to publicly discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.
In response, China has criticised the US for “an obvious overreaction and a serious violation of international practice”, and said it reserved the right to “take further actions”, AP reported.
In its statement, 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.”
US President Joe Biden issued the order for the balloon to be shot down, and had wanted it removed even earlier. He was advised that the best time for the operation would be when it was over water, US officials said. Military officials determined that bringing it down over land would pose an undue risk to people on the ground.
Biden told reporters that “we’re going to take care of it,” when asked about the balloon. The Federal Aviation Administration and Coast Guard worked to clear the airspace and water below the balloon as it reached the ocean.
Television footage showed a small explosion, followed by the balloon descending towards the water. US military jets were seen flying in the vicinity and ships were deployed in the water to mount the recovery operation.
The debris landed in 14m of water, shallower than officials had expected, and it spread out over roughly 11km and the recovery operation included several ships, AP reported. The officials estimated the recovery efforts would be completed in a short time, not weeks. A salvage vessel was en route.
US officials said the balloon entered the US air defence zone north of the Aleutian Islands on January 28 and moved largely over land across Alaska and then into Canadian airspace in the Northwest Territories on Monday (local time). It crossed back into US territory over northern Idaho on Tuesday, the day the White House said Biden was first briefed on it
The balloon was spotted on Saturday morning over the Carolinas as it approached the coast. In preparation for the operation, the FAA Administration temporarily closed airspace over the Carolina coastline, including the airports in Charleston and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and Wilmington, North Carolina. The FAA rerouted air traffic from the area and warned of delays as a result of the flight restrictions.
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The presence of the balloon in the skies above the US this week dealt a severe blow to already strained US-Chinese relations that have been in a downward spiral for 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 said after getting off Air Force One en route to Camp David.
China has continued to claim that the balloon was merely a weather research “airship” that had been blown off course. 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 balloon was spotted over Montana, which is home to one of America’s three nuclear missile silo fields at Malmstrom Air Force Base.
The Pentagon also acknowledged reports of a second balloon flying over Latin America. “We now assess it is another Chinese surveillance balloon,” Brigadier General Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a question about the second balloon.
The spectacle had Americans looking to the skies all week, wondering whether the mysterious balloon had floated over them.
On Saturday, Ashlyn Preaux, 33, went out to get her mail in Forestbrook, South Carolina, and noticed her neighbours looking up – and there it was, the balloon in the cloudless blue sky. Then she saw fighter jets circling and the balloon get hit.
“I did not anticipate waking up to be in a Top Gun movie today,” she said.
Blinken, who had been due to depart Washington for Beijing late on Friday, said he had told senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi in a phone call that sending the balloon over the US was “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.”
Uncensored reactions on the Chinese internet mirrored the official government stance that the US was hyping the situation. Some used it as a chance to poke fun at US defences, saying it couldn’t even defend against a balloon, and nationalist influencers leapt to use the news to mock the US.
China has denied any claims of spying and said it is a civilian-use balloon intended for meteorology research. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasised that the balloon's journey was out of its control and urged the US not to “smear” it based on the balloon.
