The US military shot down a Chinese aerial "spy bullet" off the coast of South Carolina, which invaded US airspace and flew over secret military facilities in North America on Thursday. The corresponding order was given by US President Joe Biden.
"In the afternoon, at the direction of President Biden, US fighter jets assigned to the US Northern Command successfully shot down a high-altitude surveillance balloon launched by and owned by the People's Republic of China," the Pentagon said.
The balloon was shot down at an altitude of about 19,8 km by a single AIM-9X missile fired by an F-22 Raptor at an altitude of about 17,7 kilometers.
Earlier on Saturday, China called on the US to maintain calm and a "cool head" in the investigation of the incident, and President Joe Biden promised to deal with the "spy layer".
In America, from the very beginning, there were calls to shoot down this not quite recognizable flying object, but the military did not want to shoot down the bullet, because it was above the air corridors used by civil aviation, and in the air it did not pose a danger, but if it fell debris on the ground, someone could be injured.
The US military waited for the bullet to hit the sea in the area of the Atlantic coast of Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. The Federal Aviation Administration has closed airspace off the coast of South and North Carolina. Airports were also closed.
The department has no doubt that the balloon was used to gather intelligence.
"The Chinese balloon shot down by the US military was used to monitor US strategic facilities," said Pentagon chief Austin.
As he writes Washington times, the White House kept quiet about the situation for almost a week because it did not want to disrupt Blinken's visit to Beijing. US officials first learned about the ball on January 28, when it was spotted over Alaska. American officials were forced to inform the public when the information was leaked to the media.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken postponed a planned visit to Beijing.
Anthony Blinken said that the appearance of a Chinese "reconnaissance ball" over US territory is a clear violation of US sovereignty and international law, as well as an irresponsible step, all the more unacceptable considering that it was carried out on the eve of a long-planned and first in many years visit to Beijing of the Secretary of State himself.
Beijing was silent for a long time, but on Friday admitted that it was indeed its bullet, but not a scout, but a peaceful meteorological probe that had deviated from its course due to bad weather. At the same time, the Pentagon rejected such a statement and emphasized that it was a reconnaissance ship.
And on Saturday, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in an official statement that China has "never invaded the territory or airspace of sovereign countries."
Meanwhile, the Pentagon discovered the second Chinese "reconnaissance ball" — now over Latin America. Its exact location was not reported, however, according to available data, the ball was seen over Costa Rica and Venezuela.
China has not yet explained the appearance of the second balloon there.
