China accuses US of indiscriminate use of force for shooting down surveillance balloon that invaded US airspace for days
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The Chinese government on Monday February 6, accused the United States of indiscriminate use of force when the American military shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon on Saturday, saying that had seriously impacted and damaged both sides efforts and progress in stabilizing Chinese-U.S. relations.
The U.S. shot down a balloon
off the Carolina coast after it crossed sensitive military sites across North
America. China insisted the flyover was an accident involving a civilian
aircraft and was not for civilian purposes but US denied the assertion saying
the balloon was maneuverable with propellers.
The Chinese Vice Foreign
Minister Xie Feng said he lodged a formal complaint with the U.S. Embassy on
Sunday over the U.S. attack on a Chinese civilian unmanned airship by military
force.
However, the United
States turned a deaf ear and insisted on indiscriminate use of force against
the civilian airship that was about to leave the United States airspace, which
obviously overreacted and seriously violated the spirit of international law
and international practice, Xie said.
The presence of the balloon in
the skies above the U.S. dealt a severe blow to already strained U.S.-Chinese
relations that have been in a downward spiral for years. It prompted Secretary
of State Antony Blinken to abruptly cancel a high-stakes Beijing trip aimed at
easing tensions.
Xie repeated China's insistence
that the balloon was a Chinese civil unmanned airship that blew into U.S.
mistake, calling it an accidental incident caused by force majeure.
China would resolutely
safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies, resolutely
safeguard China's interests and dignity and reserve the right to make further
necessary responses, he said.
U.S. President Joe Biden issued
the shootdown order after he was advised that the best times for the operation
would be when it was over water, U.S. officials said. Military officials
determined that bringing down the balloon over land from an altitude of 60,000
feet (18,000 meters) would pose an undue risk to people on the ground.
What the U.S. has done
has seriously impacted and damaged both sides efforts and progress in
stabilizing Sino-U.S. relations since the Bali meeting, Xie said, referring to
the recent meeting between Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in
Indonesia that many hoped would create positive momentum for improving ties
that have spiraled to their lowest level in years.
At a news conference Friday
with his South Korean counterpart, Blinken said the presence of this
surveillance balloon over the United States in our skies is a clear violation
of our sovereignty, a clear violation of international law, and clearly
unacceptable. And we've made that clear to China.
Any country that has its
airspace violated in this way I think would respond similarly, and I can only
imagine what the reaction would be in China if they were on the other end,?
Blinken said.
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