WASHINGTON (AFP) — US Navy personnel worked to recover on Sunday the debris of a suspected Chinese spy balloon shot down after it floated over North America for days.
China voiced anger at the shooting down of the balloon, which it insists was an unmanned weather surveillance aircraft that had veered off course.
“The United States’ actions have seriously impacted and damaged both sides’ efforts and progress in stabilizing Sino-US relations,” Chinese vice foreign minister Xie Feng said.
The balloon’s detection had already prompted the cancellation of a planned visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who had been due to arrive in Beijing on Sunday.
However, the Republicans continued to savage US President Joe Biden’s handling of the incident, saying the balloon should have been shot down earlier and accusing him of being soft on China.
The aircraft spent several days flying over North America, before Washington on Saturday said an F-22 fighter jet shot it down off the coast of South Carolina, because of what it called Beijing’s “unacceptable violation” of US sovereignty.
Pentagon officials on Friday had described the airship as a “high-altitude surveillance balloon,” adding that Washington had taken steps to block it from collecting sensitive information.
General Glen VanHerck, commander of US forces in North America, said in a statement Sunday that navy personnel were “currently conducting recovery operations, with the US Coast Guard assisting in securing the area and maintaining public safety.”
Blown off course
Beijing has said the balloon was primarily gathering weather data and that it had been blown off course.
Chuck Schumer, the US Senate Democratic leader, said the downing of the balloon by a fighter jet “wasn’t just the safest option, but it was the one that maximized our intel gain.”
That was because any instrumentation on the airship was more likely to survive a water landing.
“We sent a clear message to China that this is unacceptable,” he said in a statement. “We protected civilians. We gained more intel while protecting our own sensitive information.”
He said the full Senate would receive a classified briefing on 15 February.
In an interview with ABC News, former US Joint Chiefs of Staff chair Mike Mullen was asked if he thought elements in the Chinese military might have launched the balloon intentionally to disrupt the Blinken visit.
“Clearly, I think that’s the case,” he replied.
Mullen said the craft was maneuverable and he rejected China’s suggestion it might have blown off course.
“It has propellers on it,” he said. “This was not an accident. This was deliberate. It was intelligence.”