U.S. military shoots down suspected Chinese spy balloon off Carolina coast

February 4, 2023 Canuck News/World

U.S. military fighter aircraft shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon as it floated off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday, drawing to a close a dramatic saga that shone a spotlight on worsening China-U.S. relations.

“We successfully took it down, and I want to compliment our aviators who did it,” U.S. President Joe Biden said.

The downing came shortly after the U.S. government ordered a halt to flights around the South Carolina coast due to what it said at the time was an undisclosed “national security effort.”

Washington has called the balloon a “clear violation” of U.S. sovereignty.

U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin first announced the shootdown, saying the balloon was being used by China “in an attempt to surveil strategic sites in the continental United States.”

An object, suspected to be a spy balloon, is shot down from the sky. — An object, suspected to be a Chinese spy balloon, falls from the sky after it is shot down in Holden Beach, N.C., on Saturday. (Allison Joyce/Reuters)

Biden on Saturday said he told the Pentagon on Wednesday to shoot down the alleged Chinese spy balloon as soon as possible.

A Reuters photographer said the suspected Chinese spy balloon was shot down over the southeastern U.S. coast. A stream came from a jet, hit the balloon, but there was no explosion, the photographer said.

It then began to fall, the photographer said.

Military leaders earlier this week had recommended against shooting down the balloon when it was over Montana due to the risk of falling debris, officials said.

WATCH | ‘I told them to shoot it down,’ Biden says:

‘I told them to shoot it down,’ Biden says about suspected Chinese spy balloon

26 minutes ago

Duration 0:52

U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday said he told the Pentagon on Wednesday to shoot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon as soon as possible. On Saturday, the balloon was downed over the Atlantic Ocean.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) temporarily paused departures and arrivals at three airports on Saturday, including Myrtle Beach International Airport on the South Carolina coast, because of a “national security effort.”

The FAA issued a temporary flight restriction to clear airspace around the South Carolina coast. The notice blocked flights to more than 260 square kilometres —mostly over the Atlantic Ocean, according to a document posted by the FAA. The notice warned that the military could use deadly force if airplanes violate the restrictions and do not comply with orders to leave.

The FAA reopened the airspace shortly after it was announced the suspected spy balloon had been downed.

China-U.S. tensions

China expressed regret that an “airship” used for civilian meteorological and other scientific purposes had strayed into U.S. airspace.

China’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said on Saturday that the flight of the “airship” over the U.S. was a force majeure accident, and it accused U.S. politicians and media of taking advantage of the situation to discredit Beijing.

The suspected Chinese spy balloon prompted U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to postpone a visit to China this week that had been expected to start on Friday.

WATCH | Saga could worsen Beijing-Washington relations, says ex-envoy to China:

‘Spy balloon will create new tensions in U.S.-China relations,’ says Canada’s former Ambassador to Beijing

21 hours ago

Duration 8:40

“It’s like someone on the Chinese side almost did this on purpose to make President Xi Jinping lose face,” says Canada’s former Ambassador to China, Guy Saint-Jacques.

The postponement of Blinken’s trip, which had been agreed to in November by Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, is a blow to those who saw it as an overdue opportunity to stabilize an increasingly fractious relationship between the two countries.

China is keen for a stable U.S. relationship so it can focus on its economy, battered by the now-abandoned “zero-COVID” policy and neglected by foreign investors alarmed at what they see as a return of state intervention in the market.

The Pentagon said on Friday that another Chinese balloon was observed over Latin America, without saying where exactly.

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