Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/BEIJING: China’s foreign ministry said Monday that the United States decision to shoot down the Chinese balloon Beijing claimed had veered off course has “impacted and damaged” ties between the two countries.
According to the AFP, the aircraft, which Washington said spent many days flying over North America, led the US to call off the planned visit to Beijing by Antony Blinken, Secretary of State. Washington on Saturday said that fighter jets had shot the baloon down off the coast of South Carolina, because of what it called China’s “unacceptable violation” of United States sovereignty.
Beijing has protested the move, claiming the balloon was the civilian aircraft that was blown off course, and on Sunday lodged the official complaint with the United States embassy in China.
United States’ stance
According to a foreign ministry statement that “the United States’ (US) actions have impacted and damaged both nations’ efforts and progress in stabilizing Sino-US ties since the Bali meeting,” vice foreign minister Xie Feng said that in the complaint.
He was referring to a summit between US president Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping in November 2022.
Beijing, the statement added, “is paying close attention to the development of the condition” and “reserves a right to make further necessary reactions.”
Pentagon official on Friday said that the airship was a “high-altitude surveillance balloon”, adding the US had moved to block it from collecting sensitive data.
