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View all search resultsUS military searches for balloon remnants as China urges restraint
A US fighter jet shot down the balloon in the Atlantic off South Carolina on Saturday, a response China described as an “obvious overreaction”.
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T
he United States military said on Sunday it was searching for remnants of the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon it shot down a day earlier, while Beijing on Monday urged Washington not to escalate or take further action to harm its interests.
The drama over the balloon, which Beijing again reiterated was a civilian airship that accidentally strayed into US airspace, has further strained already-tense relations and led Washington to cancel a planned visit to Beijing by Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The US Navy was working to recover the balloon and its payload, and the Coast Guard was providing security for the operation, Gen. Glen VanHerck, commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command and US Northern Command, said on Sunday.
A successful recovery could potentially give the US insight into China’s spying capabilities, though US officials have downplayed the balloon’s impact on national security.
A US fighter jet shot down the balloon in the Atlantic off South Carolina on Saturday, a response China described as an “obvious overreaction”.
“China firmly opposes and strongly protests against this,” China’s Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng said in remarks to the US embassy in Beijing, which were posted on the ministry’s website on Monday morning.
“The Chinese government is closely following the development of the situation,” he said.
