US jet shoots down suspected Chinese spy balloon with missile

SURFSIDE BEACH — A US army fighter jet shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday, per week after it first entered US airspace and triggered a dramatic — and public — spying saga that worsened Sino-US relations.

President Joseph R. Biden mentioned he had issued an order on Wednesday to take down the balloon, however the Pentagon had really useful ready till it could possibly be achieved over open water to safeguard civilians from particles crashing to Earth from hundreds of toes (meters) above business air visitors.

“They successfully took it down, and I want to compliment our aviators who did it,” Mr. Biden mentioned.

A number of fighter and refueling plane have been concerned within the mission, however just one — an F-22 fighter jet from Langley Air Pressure Base in Virginia — took the shot at 2:39 p.m. (1939 GMT), utilizing a single AIM-9X supersonic, heat-seeking, air-to-air missile, a senior US army official mentioned.

China strongly condemned the army strike on an airship that it says was used for meteorological and different scientific functions, and which it mentioned had strayed into US airspace “completely accidentally” — claims flatly dismissed by US officers.

“China had clearly asked the US to handle this properly in a calm, professional and restrained manner,” China’s overseas ministry mentioned in a press release. “The US had insisted on using force, obviously overreacting.”

The balloon was shot down about six nautical miles off the US coast of the Atlantic Ocean, over comparatively shallow water, probably aiding efforts to get well components of the Chinese surveillance gear over the approaching days, US officers mentioned.

One US army official mentioned the particles discipline was unfold out over seven miles (11 km) of ocean, and a number of US army vessels have been on website.

The downing of the balloon got here shortly after the US authorities ordered a halt to flights out and in of three airports in South Carolina — Wilmington, Myrtle Seashore and Charleston — because of what it mentioned on the time was an undisclosed “national security effort.” Flights resumed on Saturday afternoon.

Whereas Saturday’s shootdown concludes the army dimension to the spying saga, Mr. Biden is prone to proceed to face intense political scrutiny from Republican opponents in Congress who argue he didn’t act rapidly sufficient.

A senior administration official mentioned after capturing down the balloon, the US authorities spoke immediately with China concerning the motion. The State Division additionally briefed allies and companions around the globe, the official mentioned.

Questions stay about how a lot info China might have gathered through the balloon’s trek throughout the US.

The balloon entered US airspace in Alaska on Jan. 28 earlier than shifting into Canadian airspace on Jan. 30. It then re-entered US airspace over northern Idaho on Jan. 31, a US protection official mentioned. As soon as it crossed over US land, it didn’t return to open waters, making a shootdown tough.

US officers didn’t publicly disclose the balloon’s presence over the US till Thursday.

“It’s clear the Biden administration had hoped to hide this national security failure from Congress and the American people,” mentioned US Consultant Mike Rogers, a Republican who leads the Home of Representatives Armed Providers Committee.

Mr. Biden’s emphasis on Saturday that — days in the past — he ordered the balloon shot down as quickly as attainable could possibly be an effort to answer such critics.

Former President Donald Trump, Mr. Biden’s potential rival within the 2024 election, referred to as earlier this week for the balloon to be shot down, and has sought to painting himself as stronger than Mr. Biden on China. The US relationship with China is prone to be a serious theme of the 2024 presidential race.

Washington had referred to as the balloon’s look a “clear violation” of US sovereignty and notified Beijing concerning the shootdown on Saturday, a US official mentioned.

Nonetheless, officers on Saturday appeared to play down the balloon’s affect on US nationwide safety.

“Our assessment — and we’re going to learn more as we pick up the debris — was that it was not likely to provide significant additive value over and above other (Chinese) intel capability, such as satellites in low-Earth orbit,” the senior US protection official mentioned.

A Reuters photographer who witnessed the shootdown mentioned a stream got here from a jet and hit the balloon, however there was no explosion. It then started to fall.

The Pentagon assesses that the balloon was a part of a fleet of Chinese spy balloons. On Friday, it mentioned one other Chinese balloon was flying over Latin America.

“Over the past several years, Chinese balloons have previously been spotted over countries across five continents, including in East Asia, South Asia and Europe,” the US official mentioned.

The suspected spy balloon prompted Secretary of State Antony Blinken to postpone a go to to China this week that had been anticipated to begin on Friday.

The postponement of Mr. Blinken’s journey, which had been agreed to in November by Mr. Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, was a blow to those that noticed it as an overdue alternative to stabilize an more and more fractious relationship between the 2 international locations.

China is eager for a secure US relationship so it might concentrate on its financial system, battered by the now-abandoned zero-COVID coverage and uncared for by overseas traders alarmed by what they see as a return of state intervention available in the market. — Reuters

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