The US shot down the Chinese balloon off the coast of North Carolina: there is an operation to recover its remains

WASHINGTON.- The government of the president Joe Biden shot down the mysterious Chinese balloon suspected of spying on the US military. It did when it reached the shores of North Carolina, over the atlantic oceanand launched an operation to recover his remains.

An operation is now underway in US territorial waters in the Atlantic Ocean to recover the remains of the balloon, which was flying at an altitude of about 60,000 feet (18,300 meters) and was estimated to be the size of three school buses.

“About the balloon, I ordered the Pentagon to shoot it down as soon as possible. [por seguridad]…they successfully shot him down.” President Joe Biden said when asked by the press after the operation.

“We’ll take care of that,” Biden had said before the shootdown, when questioned by reporters about the balloon. Television images showed a small explosion, followed by the balloon’s descent into the water.

LThe Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had announced this Saturday the closure of three airports and airspace in parts of North Carolina and South Carolina due to “national security initiatives.”

Besides, China downplayed the cancellation of a trip by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, after the sighting of the balloon clouded diplomatic relations. According to Beijing, neither side had formally announced a plan for the visit.

“Actually, the United States and China had never announced any visits. The United States making such an announcement is their business, and we respect it.”the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

Blinken was scheduled to visit Beijing on Sunday for talks aimed at easing tensions between the two nations. It would be the first high-profile meeting since the presidents’ meeting in Indonesia in November. But Washington abruptly canceled the plans after discovering the balloon, despite China’s claim that it was a meteorological research “blimp” that veered off course.

The Pentagon rejected that claim, as well as the claim that it was not used for surveillance duties and had limited navigation capabilities.

The uncensored reactions online reflected the official government position that Washington was exaggerating the situation.

Many users made jokes about the balloon. Some said that, since the United States restricted the technology that Beijing can acquire in order to weaken the national technology industry, now they could not control the globe.

Others took the opportunity to mock the US defenses as not being able to even deal with a balloon, and nationalist influencers were quick to use the news to mock the rival country. One of them wryly wrote that “The United States, due to the balloon incident, delays Blinken’s visit to China.”

The device was sighted over Montana, home to one of the country’s three nuclear missile silos, at Malmstrom Air Force Base, according to defense officials.

While. People with binoculars and telephoto lenses were trying to spot the “spy balloon” in the sky as it headed southeast over Kansas and Missouri at 60,000 feet.

The Pentagon also acknowledged reports of a second balloon flying over Latin America.

“We now consider it to be another Chinese surveillance balloon”said Brigadier General Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, in a statement.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a question about the second artifact.

PA Agency

THE NATION

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