US jets shoot down suspected Chinese spy balloon
The US defense department confirmed its fighter jets brought down the suspected spy Chinese balloon over US territorial water (Atlantic).
Defense officials told US media the debris landed in 47ft (14m) of water – shallower than they had expected – near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
The military is now trying to recover debris which is spread over seven miles (11km). Two naval ships, including one with a heavy crane for recovery, are in the area.
In a Pentagon statement a senior US defense official said that “while we took all necessary steps to protect against the PRC [China] surveillance balloon’s collection of sensitive information, the surveillance balloon’s over flight of US territory was of intelligence value to us.
“We were able to study and scrutinise the balloon and its equipment, which has been valuable,” the official added.
China calls U.S. shooting down Chinese airship overreacting
China’s Ministry of National Defense on Sunday called the U.S. “overreacting” after a U.S. fighter jet shot down a Chinese unmanned airship that China said unintended entered the U.S. airspace days ago.
“We express our solemn protest against this U.S. approach and reserve the right to use the necessary means to deal with similar situations,” said Tan Kefei, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of National Defense on Sunday.
The Chinese government said the civilian airship was used for research, mainly meteorological purposes and was deviated far from its planned course, affected by the Westerlies and with limited self-steering capability.
Sources: BBC, CGTN