The US Military shot down a suspected Chinese surveillance ballon on Saturday afternoon, February 4, after it flew across sensitive American military sites several days this week.
US leader, Joe Biden had faced calls to shoot down the balloon ever since it was first spotted hovering over Montana on Wednesday February 1, but national security officials had declined to do so, citing concerns that the risk to civilians on the ground from debris outweighs the potential surveillance China could obtain.
On Saturday, as the balloon was spotted over the Carolinas, the FAA ordered all planes in the area to be grounded after reports that Biden was considering a plan to shoot out the balloon as it approached the Atlantic Ocean.
Shortly after, the balloon was shot down over the ocean.
The balloon was first spotted near Billings, Montana and continued to travel across the central region of the United States. It was spotted over Missouri Friday evening and over North Carolina on Saturday.
U.S. authorities have maintained they believe the balloon was intended to conduct surveillance over the U.S. ‘potentially including a nuclear site in Montana’ but China has said it was a weather balloon that was blown off track.
U.S. officials on Friday confirmed a second balloon was spotted over Latin America and were working to confirm that it was a Chinese surveillance balloon.
The situation has further strained relations between the United States and China, which were already tense amid the Russia-Ukraine war and questions about the future of Taiwan’s sovereignty.
Due to the breach of territory by the ballon, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken cancelled a planned trip to Beijing.
The decision to keep the story quiet as officials were worried the hysteria caused by the balloon would derail Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Republicans had pressed Biden to order the second balloon to be knocked out, with former President Donald Trump, who is again running for the Republican party nomination in 2024, urging Biden to ‘SHOOT DOWN THE BALLOON!’ in a Truth Social post.
However, Republican are expressing outrage at the Biden administration’s lack of transparency with the American public over the Chinese surveillance balloon that has been hovering over the US for days.
A subsequent report from Bloomberg found that the president was made aware of the balloon, and its dangerous threat, days earlier on January 28.
The decision to keep the story quiet as officials were worried the hysteria caused by the balloon would derail Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis told DailyMail ‘Communist China’s surveillance balloon violates international law and threatens our homeland.
‘It’s an outrage that the Biden Administration spotted this balloon days ago as it was flying over the Aleutian Islands and did nothing about it.’
The recently reelected congresswoman added: ‘The president has not even made a comment about this unacceptable act of aggression by the CCP.
‘Whether it’s our border or air space, Congress must take action to protect it, because it’s clear this President won’t,’ she continued.
While the House Judiciary GOP Twitter account tweeted: ‘Joe Biden knew the Chinese spy balloon was coming. Tried to hide it from the American people. Let it fly across the ENTIRE COUNTRY.’
The message added: ‘And only after the entire country begged him to act, our great military shot it down. Embarrassing. Scary. Sad.’
Officially, the Pentagon has called the balloon an ‘intelligence-gathering’ device but China has continued to claim that the balloon was merely a weather research ‘airship’ that had been blown off course.
