US shoots down Chinese spy balloon off East Coast
CHinese balloon incident “have to now not be tolerated by means of the global community,” Taiwan says
From CNN’s Philip Wang
Taiwan said Sunday that the chinese language balloon incident “ought to now not be tolerated with the aid of the civilized global community.”
“Such movements through the chinese Communist celebration government contravene international law, breach the airspace of other nations, and violate their sovereignty,” Taiwan’s foreign Ministry stated in a statement.
It called on China’s authorities to “straight away stop conduct of this type that encroaches on different international locations and causes regional instability.”
China – which insists the balloon changed into a civilian studies vessel – has expressed its “strong dissatisfaction and protest” against Washington’s choice to shoot down the balloon, saying it became “overreacting” and “severely violating global exercise.”
Taiwan has experience of balloons from China overflying its territory. In September 2021 and in February 2022, Taiwan’s Ministry of country wide protection said balloons that have been believed to be used for “meteorological observations” flew over the self-ruled island. It is unclear if the ones balloons have been the same type as the only shot down by US fighter jets on Saturday.
China has expressed its “strong dissatisfaction and protest” against the US’ shooting down of its balloon, saying Washington was “overreacting” and “seriously violating international practice,” in a statement from its foreign ministry.
“China expresses its strong dissatisfaction and protest against the US’s use of force to attack civilian unmanned aircraft. The Chinese side has repeatedly informed the US side after verification that the airship is for civilian use and entered the US due to force majeure – it was completely an accident,” reads the statement, which was published Sunday morning local time (Saturday evening in the US).
“China clearly asked the US to handle it properly in a calm, professional and restrained manner. A spokesman for the US Department of Defense also stated that the balloon will not pose a military or personal threat to ground personnel,” the statement continued.
“China will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of relevant companies, while reserving the right to make further necessary reaction,” the ministry said.
What the US is saying: While Pentagon officials did say this week that the airship posed no “military or physical” threat to the US, they also flatly denied China’s claim that the balloon served a civilian research purpose.