The U.S. downed the Chinese surveillance balloon off the Carolina coast on Saturday, a U.S. official said, setting off a tense exchange between both nations.
An F-22 raptor with a single missile shot the balloon down at 2:39 p.m., according to a senior defense official. It was between 60,000 to 65,000 feet in the air when it was downed.
The action came a couple of hours after President Joe Biden responded to a reporter who asked whether the U.S. would shoot down the balloon. “We’re gonna take care of it,” Biden said, in his first public remarks about the balloon.
In remarks to reporters after the balloon was shot down, Biden said he made the order to the Pentagon after he was briefed on Wednesday.
“They decided — without doing damage to anyone on the ground — they decided that the best time to do that was when it got over water,” he said. “They successfully took it down and I want to compliment our aviators who did it. And we’ll have more to report on this a little later.”
The U.S. and China exchanged strong words after the balloon was downed, with China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressing in a statement its "strong dissatisfaction and protest over the use of force" by the U.S.
“The Chinese side had clearly requested the U.S. side to handle the situation properly in a calm, professional and restrained manner,” the statement said, adding that the U.S. was an “obvious over-reaction and a serious violation of international customary practice.”
“The Chinese side will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the companies concerned, while reserving the right to make further necessary responses,” the statement said.
