The US Department of Defense announced that a Chinese balloon flying over the US mainland was shot down by a US fighter jet off the coast of South Carolina.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Austin issued a statement on the afternoon of the 4th local time, just after 5:00 a.m. on the 5th Japan time. 's balloon was shot down.
The shooting down was done at the direction of President Biden, and as of the 1st of this month, the president said that he had approved it immediately if it could be shot down without danger to the residents on the ground. That's it.
The statement said the downed balloon was "used by China to monitor strategic locations in the mainland United States."
In addition, it is said that this series of responses was carried out in cooperation with the Canadian government.
"This demonstrates that the Biden administration will always put the safety of the American people first and will effectively deal with China's unacceptable violation of its sovereignty," Austin said in a statement.
President Biden 'orders to shoot down'
US President Biden told reporters on the 4th that he had instructed the Pentagon to shoot down the balloon immediately. I said.
After that, it was revealed that the instruction to shoot down was issued on the 1st of this month.
And President Biden said, 'I want to praise the pilots who succeeded in shooting down.'
Major U.S. media also reported on the shooting down
Several major US media reported that a Chinese balloon flying over the mainland of the United States was shot down by US forces on the 4th on the Atlantic coast of the southern United States.