The United States shot down the Chinese balloon off the East Coast
The United States eventually shot down the Chinese balloon off the east coast.
© AP/Larry Mayer
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
The balloon, which the Pentagon claims was a spy balloon, was shot down by the US military off the east coast of the United States, according to Fox News and CNN.
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On videos broadcast by television channels, it seemed to fall vertically.
Watch the latest video at foxnews.com
Shortly before, air traffic had been suspended at three airports in the southeastern United States as a “
national security
” measure , announced the American civil aviation regulator (FAA).
It was one airport in North Carolina and two in South Carolina.
On Saturday morning, US President Joe Biden said that the United States would "
deal
" with this ball.
Then 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, had replied by simply giving a thumbs up.
A chill in China-US relations
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.
Beijing acknowledged that it was indeed a device from China, but assured that it was a “
civilian aircraft, used for research purposes, mainly meteorological
”.
The machine would have "
deviated from its trajectory
", added a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, expressing the "
regrets " of his country for this "
involuntary
" violation
of American airspace.
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UNITED STATES
China
Defense
Joe Biden