China slams US and threatens repercussions for shooting down spy balloon

A Chinese official slammed the United States on Monday for their decision to shoot down what American authorities believed was a spy balloon that had violated U.S. airspace. 

Chinese Foreign Minister Xie Feng said he filed a formal complaint with the American Embassy in China over the country’s “attack on a Chinese civilian unmanned airship.”

Feng added that “the United States turned a deaf ear and insisted on indiscriminate use of force against the civilian airship that was about to leave the United States airspace.”

China’s Foreign Minister also called the move an “overreaction” that “seriously violated the spirit of international law and international practice.”

According to ABC News, China’s suspected spy balloon entered American airspace on January 28th near the Aleutian islands.

The balloon then made its way over most of Canada before entering the United States above Montana on February 1st. 

Sightings of China’s alleged civilian weather balloon were made well into February 3rd until it eventually made its way to the Atlantic Ocean and was shot down off the coast of South Carolina. 

In a statement made on Sunday, China’s Foreign Ministry vowed to take further action for the destruction of their balloon. 

"China will resolutely uphold the relevant company's legitimate rights and interests, and at the same time reserving the right to take further actions in response," the statement read. 

President Joe Biden took a lot of heat from the media and his political rivals over his unwillingness to shoot the spy balloon down as it passed over the continental United States.

"If it was up to Montanans, this thing would have been taken out of the sky the moment it entered our sovereign airspace," Montana Governor Greg Gianforte told Tucker Carlson. 

It appears that Biden actually agreed with Gianforte, saying on Saturday: “We’re going to take care of it.”

After the balloon was shot down, Biden mentioned that he had wanted to shoot the spy balloon down earlier, but justified his decision to wait as necessary to avoid the risks of falling debris according to Yahoo News. 

"They successfully took it down and I want to compliment our aviators who did it," Biden said later on Saturday.

As the saga of the Chinese spy balloon played out over the weekend, news reached the media that this wasn’t the first time China had used an allegedly civilian balloon to spy on the United States. 

“[Chinese] government surveillance balloons transited the continental United States briefly at least three times during the prior administration and once that we know of at the beginning of this administration but never for this duration of time,” said an unnamed senior defense official according to The Hill. 

“We spoke directly with Chinese officials through multiple channels,” the defense official continued, “but rather than address their intrusion into our airspace, the PRC put out an explanation that lacked any credibility.”