US fighter jets shoot down China’s spy balloon, angry Beijing issues warning

US military fighter jets shot down China’s spy balloon over the Atlantic Ocean off the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed Saturday.

The craft spent several days flying over North America before it was targeted off the coast of the southeastern state of South Carolina with a missile fired from an F-22 plane, Pentagon officials said, falling into relatively shallow water just 47 feet deep, according to an AFP report.

Recovery efforts began shortly after the balloon was downed, an official said.

Saturday afternoon was the military’s first chance to take down the balloon “in a way that would not pose a threat to the safety of Americans,” a senior defense official told reporters.

The operation was worked out to allow US authorities to collect the fallen debris from US territorial waters.

A video posted on social media showed the balloon disintegrating before its debris fell into the Atlantic Ocean.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin called the operation a “deliberate and lawful action” that came in response to China’s “unacceptable violation of our sovereignty.”

China reacted strongly to the US action saying it would “reserve the right to make necessary responses” over the move.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on Sunday morning, saying the downing of the “civilian” aircraft was “clearly overreacting and seriously violating international practice.”

President Joe Biden, who earlier Saturday had promised “to take care” of the balloon, congratulated the fighter pilots involved.

“They successfully took it down. And I want to compliment our aviators who did it,” Biden told reporters in Maryland.

The Pentagon had said on Thursday that it was tracking a Chinese spy balloon flying high over the United States that appeared to be carrying out a surveillance of highly sensitive nuclear weapons sites.

Fighter jets were mobilised but military leaders advised President Joe Biden against shooting the balloon out of the sky for fear debris could pose a safety threat to people on the ground.

An official said the balloon flew over the US northwest where there are sensitive airbases and strategic missiles in silos underground.

The incident had led to Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday to cancel a diplomatic visit to Beijing aimed at reducing US-China tensions.