The Chinese government reportedly stated Saturday that President Biden’s decision to fire down the spy balloon that crossed America was an excessive reaction and that it retains the right to retaliate further.
China maintains that the balloon was a civilian airship and not the espionage device the US described it to be.
Saturday afternoon, two US Air Force fighter aircraft shot down the balloon off the coast of North Carolina.
Biden revealed that the Pentagon was aware of the balloon since it entered US airspace, but chose to keep their knowledge of it hidden in order to protect the Chinese-American relationship ahead of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s planned visit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
The balloon had spent eight days in the nation and traversed more than 4,000 miles of American land when it was shot down by US jets and plunged into the ocean.
China continues to maintain that the balloon’s entrance into the United States was unintentional.
It remains unclear exactly what steps China could potentially take to repond against the U.S., however tensions have continued to rise in recent months over the status of Taiwan. With many observers now believing that China is preparing to take military action to cease control of the island in the coming years, an event which may lead to a direct military clash with the U.S.
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