“We will take care of it,” warned the American president.
The United States shot down, on Saturday February 4, the Chinese balloon which had been flying over their territory since Friday, according to American media.
Air traffic had been suspended earlier at three airports in the southeastern United States as a "national security" measure, according to the American civil aviation regulator (FAA).
"The FAA has suspended departures and arrivals at Wilmington Airport (North Carolina), Myrtle Beach International Airport and Charleston International Airport (South Carolina) as part of a national security taken by the US Department of Defense,” she announced in a statement.
"We'll take care of it"
According to US media, citing unnamed sources, Washington was planning to shoot down the craft over the Atlantic Ocean.
On Saturday, the Chinese balloon, which the Pentagon claims is a "spy" balloon, was observed over South Carolina, media also reported.
“We will take care of it,” Joe Biden said earlier today, without offering further details.
At the beginning of the afternoon, the American president, to whom journalists asked if he was going to give the order to shoot down the balloon, replied by simply giving a thumbs up.
This affair, which has cast a chill over relations between Washington and Beijing, has caused the postponement of a visit by the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken to China.
With AFP
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