USA shoots down Chinese 'spy' balloon over Atlantic

USA shoots down Chinese 'spy' balloon over Atlantic  

The giant Chinese balloon hovering over parts of the United States was shot down by a U.S. fighter jet off the coast of South Carolina, the balloon, which the U.S. says was used to spy on military sites, appeared to crash into the sea well China continues to insist that was actually a stray civilian weather observation airship, its foreign ministry issued a statement saying that China strongly disapproves of and protests

 against the US's violent attack on a civilian unmanned airship, and also said that the US use of force was a clear overreaction and a serious breach of international practice  Allman has a report that the allies were on this lone object floating calmly through American airspace, was it a harmless weather balloon or a spy in the sky sent by the Chinese whatever it is the us government has decided enough is

 enough look at that trail of white vapor on the left side of the screen, which is the USF-22 fighter jet heading for the balloon, then the second trail, this time from the rake the Sidewinder about to end its journey suddenly we saw something take off from the nozzle we knew it was a missile and you could see the explosion didn't hear anything but saw the balloon explode damn it was almost like moving a 

cloud that drifted down and then the smoke disappeared and began to slowly descend further towards the ocean, who did you hear that a few moments after impact the sound of an explosion is heard at ground level, then the remains of the balloon, its canopy torn to shreds, fall to earth satisfying moment for president Biden even though he had to wait a few days for the operation to be done I ordered the 

pentagon to shoot him down on Wednesday they decided as soon as possible without harming anyone on the ground excited that the best time to do it was that we came across the water in a statement China's Foreign Ministry accused the US of overreacting China expresses strong dissatisfaction and protests against the use of force by the United States, adding that it reserves the right to make further 

necessary responses c The incident has strained an already fragile relationship, with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinked canceling a planned trip to Beijing this weekend, with the balloon believed to have fallen in relatively shallow water and any debris expected to be easily recovered, the Americans hope then they will be able to find out exactly what the Chinese have planned Tim Allman BBC News I 

spoke to our Beijing correspondent Steve McDonald earlier and he told us a bit more about the statement that was issued by the Chinese foreign minister, I think it was issued by an angry Chinese government and you do you think it was supposed to be a weekend here in Beijing where bridges between China and the US are going to be built, they are not going to be burned, but now US Secretary of State Anthony Blinked is going to Beijing has been postponed and we have this serious point of

 tension, but as for the latest remarks by the Chinese government describing the downing of this balloon as an attack on a civilian unmanned airship, the statement then goes on to repeat the Chinese government's assurances that the metro areological balloon that was accidentally launched far away, obviously over our airspace, that they have called on Washington to act calmly and with restraint, and

 yet they say that you launched this balloon, this is a clear overreaction, a serious violation of international press practice, and the Chinese government says, that it will absolutely protect the legitimate rights and interests of the company that operates this balloon and reserves the right to make further responses if necessary, well, we'll take that last point Stephen will answer further if necessary

 what they're likely to be, what we're talking about diplomatic subpoenas and what does that mean for this warming of tensions or rather the warming of relations that was the hope of Secretary of State Lincoln's visit, I mean it's the type of standard you get from the Chinese foreign ministry when the

 Chinese government is upset. deliberately vague you know well who knows what we might do in the future but it's a warning and like I say it's not specific I think it kind of adds an air of mystery because you know who knows what we might in definitely respond to this in the future, although it doesn't help in terms of building China-US relations, which should be on the mend as we speak