China criticized the United States on Sunday for “clearly overreacting” and “seriously violating international practice” by ordering the Pentagon to shoot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that was observed flying over North America.
“China expresses strong dissatisfaction and protests against the use of force by the United States to attack the unmanned civilian airship,” Beijing’s foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that it would “reserve the right to make further necessary responses.”
Before being shot down by a missile from an F-22 jet on Saturday, the craft spent several days flying above North America, escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing, according to Pentagon officials.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin called the operation a “deliberate and lawful action” that came in response to China’s “unacceptable violation of our sovereignty.”
The initial announcement that they were tracking a sizable Chinese “surveillance balloon” in US sky came from American officials on Thursday.
This prompted Antony Blinken, the secretary of state, to cancel a rare trip to Beijing on Friday that was intended to defuse escalating US-China tensions.
Initially reluctant, Beijing eventually acknowledged possession of the “airship,” but claimed it was actually a weather balloon that had been blown off course.
The Chinese foreign ministry on Sunday said it had “clearly requested that the United States properly handle the matter in a calm, professional and restrained manner.”
Beijing said the United States “insisted on using force, clearly overreacting and seriously violating international practice.”
The ministry said in its statement, “China will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of relevant enterprises and reserve the right to make further necessary responses.”
