The White House gave the order, the Pentagon carried it out.
On Saturday February 4, the Chinese white balloon that had been crossing the United States for several days was shot down by a missile fired by an American F-22 fighter jet off the coast of South Carolina.
If Washington assures that it was a "spy balloon", Beijing denounced an "attack against a civilian airship".
"China expresses its strong dissatisfaction and protests against the use of force by the United States," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday, adding that Beijing "reserved the right" to retaliate.
The crisis caused by the ball is now being played out on diplomatic ground, the head of American diplomacy, Anthony Blinken, having postponed his trip to Beijing.
A visit that would have been unprecedented since October 2018. What kind of response can we expect from Beijing?
Update on the situation with Emmanuel Véron, doctor in geography and specialist in contemporary China and international relations at the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations (Inalco).
France 24: Why did the United States shoot down this Chinese balloon
?
Was this a show of force from Washington
?
Emmanuel Véron
: It is necessary to come back to the overall sequence of this stratospheric sounding balloon affair.
The Chinese deliberately left and guided the balloon to follow its trajectory and enter Canadian and American territories to test American and Canadian responsiveness.
The Americans regained the upper hand through the control of the political, media, technical and military image.
The decision to shoot it down is a show of strength, of military industrial leadership, since it was an F-22 with an infrared missile that hit the balloon to destroy it off South Carolina.
The balloon was shot down over water, but in relatively shallow water, with a depth of about 14 meters.
This allows the US Coast Guard and the US Navy to recover a lot of material.
He will be investigated in particular by the FBI.
We should expect in the coming days very detailed press releases, here too, with great mastery of image and speech by the American authorities to show China what they have done, to make them lose face. , and make them face their own responsibilities.
This sequence is a takeover from the top by the Biden administration in what was a violation of American airspace.
For the Chinese, it was a test to show that they have the capacity to evolve in the stratosphere with this type of weather balloon.
It's obviously intelligence, to show off their abilities, but they've lost control.
What can Beijing's reaction be following the destruction of this sounding balloon
?
At this point, it's declarative.
They will not venture to use modern weapons to shoot down any American aircraft or device.
It is extremely risky.
On the other hand, China will increase the pressure in its regional environment.
We can expect in the next few hours military maneuvers on land, at sea or in the air, around the Philippines, in the South China Sea, in the direction of Japan, Taiwan, even intimidation of American nationals in China. , more or less severe cyberattacks aimed at American interests (administration, businesses, etc.).
Is there, today, a risk of escalation between the United States and China
?
There may be a rise in tensions between Beijing and Washington, in a certain hybridity: with recourse to diplomacy and verbal jousting, recourse to cyber logic, to logic of intimidation... But nothing high intensity climbing.
We're not going to take out the guns.
Nobody wants it.
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