“Relations Seriously Affected”: China On US Shooting ‘Spy’ Balloon

Beijing:

China’s foreign ministry said on Monday that the US decision to shoot down a Chinese balloon that Beijing claimed had “serious consequences and damage” to relations between the two countries.

The plane, which Washington called a spy balloon, spent several days flying over North America, prompting the United States to call off a planned visit to Beijing by Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Washington said on Saturday a fighter jet shot it down off the coast of South Carolina in what Beijing called an “unacceptable violation” of US sovereignty.

Beijing protested the move, claiming the balloon was a civilian aircraft that was blown off course, and lodged an official complaint with the US embassy in China on Sunday.

According to a foreign ministry statement, Vice Foreign Minister Xi Feng said in the complaint, “The actions of the United States have seriously affected and undermined the efforts and progress made by both sides in stabilizing China-US relations since the Bali meeting.” damaged.”

He was referring to the summit between President Joe Biden and Xi Jinping in November.

Beijing, the statement said, is “closely following the development of the situation” and “reserves the right to make further necessary responses”.

Pentagon officials on Friday described the airships as “high altitude surveillance balloons”, saying Washington had taken steps to prevent them from collecting sensitive information.

A day after Pentagon officials said another balloon was spotted somewhere in Latin America, air force officials in Colombia said an object with “characteristics similar to the balloon” had been detected on Friday and would “leave national air space until monitoring”.

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