The Joe Biden government shot down the Chinese surveillance balloon that appeared days ago over US territory on Saturday night, once the device reached the Atlantic Ocean after passing through North Carolina and South Carolina. The order came directly from the president, Joe Biden, who congratulated the pilots who had carried out the operation. “I gave the order to the Pentagon the same Wednesday to shoot down the balloon as soon as possible without putting anyone at risk,” he explained. Biden had pointed out that the entry of the balloon was “an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty and international law.”
The plan prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to temporarily close airspace over the East Coast, including the airports at Charleston and Myrtle Beach in South Carolina and Wilmington in North Carolina. The balloon was already approaching the coast in the afternoon after flying over the country from Northwest to Southeast, according to Washington’s suspicions to spy on critical facilities.
On Friday night, the Pentagon had announced the appearance of a second balloon about which it did not give many details. “We are seeing information from a balloon that is flying over Latin America. We now assess that it is another Chinese surveillance balloon,” Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Patrick Ryder said in a statement.
On Thursday, the Costa Rican newspaper La Nación reported a sighting whose description would coincide with that of the device that appeared over the United States: “A white flying object, or what appeared to be a hot air balloon, was observed early in the morning. this Thursday morning over the Costa Rican Pacific and the Greater Metropolitan Area,” reported La Nación.
Xi Jinping’s government initially apologized for the “involuntary” diversion of the first balloon detected in US territories that included the area of ??the military base with nuclear warhead silos located in Montana. Beijing denied that it was a “spy balloon”, as the Pentagon had suggested, and assured that it was a weather gauge that had been deviated from its trajectory by “strong wind”.
Washington said it would “take note” of the excuses, but canceled the trip that Secretary of State Antony Blinken was preparing to make to Beijing precisely to continue the signs of détente that both powers have shown in recent weeks. It was the first visit by a senior US dignitary to China in five years.
The initial caution with which the Chinese authorities reacted to the US allegations is difficult to interpret. At first glance, it seems like an admission of guilt: although satellites are much more effective than hot air balloons for spying, the truth is that they are cheaper, fly much lower, and their technology has improved in recent years. years. The mild reaction to the suspension of Blinken’s trip may also indicate a desire not to make the climate even more difficult between the two powers.
In any case, China’s response contrasts with the reaction that the detection of the balloon has unleashed in the United States, where Democrats and Republicans have vied to raise the tone of criticism of the Asian country. The media have also collaborated in this, turning the incident into an attack on US sovereignty. In that context, Blinken’s visit to Beijing had become increasingly uncomfortable.
The note from the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Saturday contrasted, however, with some comments by the Xi Executive made on Friday: “Some US politicians and media are using the incident as a pretext to attack and smear China.” And he added: “Beijing always strictly abides by international law and has never violated the territory and airspace of a sovereign country.”