US Shoots Down China’s Suspicious Surveillance Balloon

The US-China rivalry in the Asia-Pacific is likely to spark new tension amidst the US shootdown of an alleged Chinese surveillance balloon off the South Carolina coast on Saturday, according to the media report.

Reports claimed the shot down was ordered by President Joe Biden on Wednesday, based on causing no damage to anyone on the ground. Correspondingly, the military took the best call on Saturday while the Chinese balloon was over the Atlantic within US territorial waters.

The president further complimented the aviators who did it and assured an official report on it later.

The act didn’t go well with China protesting the downing, the east Asian country said it reserves the right to take necessary reactions according to a foreign ministry statement on Sunday.

It added, the accidental incursion of the balloon for civilian use is a violation of international practice by the United States without prior notice.

The US officials however claim to inform Beijing about the reserved right for such action but didn’t follow up with more details once it was decided.

A senior US administration official stated, the balloon, along with another observed transiting Central and South America, had no surveillance equipment usually associated with standard meteorological activities or civilian research as claimed by China.