After tracking for days, the United States (US) on Saturday shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon over the Atlantic Ocean. The suspected surveillance balloon, which entered from Canada, was taken down as it crossed continental America after hovering over its skies from Montana to South Carolina.
"This afternoon, at the direction of President Biden, US fighter aircraft assigned to US Northern Command successfully brought down the high altitude surveillance balloon launched by and belonging to the People's Republic of China (PRC) over the water off the coast of South Carolina in US airspace," US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J Austin said in a statement on Saturday.
Austin said the balloon, which China was using in an attempt to surveil strategic sites in the continental US, was brought down above US territorial waters. On Wednesday, the defense secretary said, US President Joe Biden gave his authorisation to take down the surveillance balloon as soon as the mission could be accomplished without undue risk to American lives under the balloon's path.
After careful analysis, the US military commanders determined downing the balloon while over land posed an undue risk to people across a wide area due to the size and altitude of the balloon and its surveillance payload. The Department of Defense developed options to take down the balloon safely over the US territorial waters, while closely monitoring its path and intelligence collection activities.
Austin said this action was taken in coordination and with the full support of the Canadian government. He thanked Canada for its contribution to tracking and analysis of the balloon through NORAD as it transited North America. "Today's deliberate and lawful action demonstrates that President Biden and his national security team will always put the safety and security of the American people first while responding effectively to the PRC's unacceptable violation of our sovereignty," he said.
However, China called the shooting down balloon a 'serious violation of international practice' and has threatened consequences, the news agency AFP reported. Beijing had earlier expressed regret over the balloon over the US and said it was a weather airship that had been blown astray. The Chinese foreign ministry in a statement on Saturday said Beijing 'never violated the territory and airspace of any sovereign country'.
The balloon, spotted just days before the planned visit by US Secretary Anthony Blinken to China, has triggered fresh tensions between Washington and Beijing. Secretary Blinken called off his visit to China after the balloon was spotted.