[Update] Chinese Spy Balloon Shot Down Off U.S. Coast; As Biden Faces Harsh Criticism For 'Grossly Incompetent' Handling Of The Conflict With China
U.S. fighter jets shot down the Chinese spy balloon shortly after 1930 UTC on Saturday, off the coast of South Carolina. An F-22 was reportedly dispatched out of Langley Air Force Base and it took down the high-altitude surveillance balloon with a single air-to-air missile. The Federal Aviation Administration earlier issued a ground stop for flights at three airports across North and South Carolina.
Official said that while the debris is spread out over a field of about seven miles, it is in shallow water, just under 50 feet. On Facebook, South Carolina's North Myrtle Beach Police Department warned residents that some "pieces" of the balloon "may wash ashore."
"Any stray pieces are expected in the North Carolina area but could wash ashore in (North Myrtle Beach)," police wrote. "If a piece is located please contact your local law enforcement agency for collection."
Navy divers are working to recover debris from the downed Chinese spy balloon. The military had put several vessels from the Navy and Coast Guard on alert prior to shooting down the balloon. Pentagon officials say the recovery effort is expected to be relatively easy thanks to the shallow water, but it could still take days.
The downing of the balloon brings an end to a tense public standoff in the past week, with Beijing over the intrusion into U.S. airspace. It also ends an embarrassing episode for President Joe Biden who has faced mockery and harsh criticism over his weak leadership on the matter.
"I ordered the Pentagon to shoot it down on Wednesday as soon as possible," Biden claimed, speaking to reporters on Saturday. "They decided without doing any damage to people on the ground they decided that the best time to do that was when it got over water outside within a 12 mile limit.... They successfully took it down and I want to compliment our aviators who did it and we'll have more to report on a little later."
The Chinese on their part, called the decision to shoot down the balloon "a clear overreaction and a serious violation of international practice,"
"China will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the company concerned, and reserves the right to make further responses if necessary," a statement by the Chinese foreign ministry said on Sunday.
Biden has faced criticism for allowing the spy balloon to move across the continental U.S. for several days.
U.S. House Republican Conference chairwoman Elise Stefanik of New York said "Joe Biden was tested on the world stage and abysmally failed."
"The Chinese Communist spy balloon should never have been allowed to cross into our sovereign nation gathering intelligence," Stefanik said. "The American people deserve to know why Joe Biden allowed this national security threat for so long, why he tried to hide it from the American people, and what information our foreign adversaries were gathering.... This is a time for peace through strength, and the Chinese Communist Party must know violations of American airspace will not be tolerated."
Former president Donald Trump also slammed "grossly incompetent" Biden. "The Chinese Balloon situation is a disgrace, just like the Afghanistan horror show, and everything else surrounding the grossly incompetent Biden Administration," he wrote on social media Sunday. "They are only good at cheating in elections, and disinformation -- and now they are putting out that a Balloon was put up by China during the Trump Administration, in order to take the “heat” off the slow moving Biden fools. China had too much respect for “TRUMP” for this to have happened, and it NEVER did. JUST FAKE DISINFORMATION!"
Critics of the Biden administration have argued that the Chinese would not have sent such a spy balloon anywhere near U.S. under President Trump.
WATCH the moment the Chinese spy balloon was shot down
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A suspected Chinese surveillance balloon, the size of two school buses, has been floating over northern United States over the past several days. U.S. officials say this is not the first time such incident has occurred in the country and other allied nations.
"The United States government has detected and is tracking a high-altitude surveillance balloon that is over the continental United States right now," Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said during a briefing on Thursday afternoon. "The U.S. government to include Norad, continues to track and monitor it closely. The balloon is currently traveling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic and does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground. Instances of this kind of balloon activity have been observed previously over the past several years. Once the balloon was detected, the U.S. government acted immediately to protect against the collection of sensitive information."
Ryder also reportedly said on Friday night, that: "We are seeing reports of a balloon transiting Latin America. We now assess it is another Chinese surveillance balloon."
A defense official reportedly said that President Joe Biden was briefed on the situation. The balloon over U.S. was recently over the state of Montana and the military was considering bringing it down, but decided against doing so because of the risks associated. "They're trying to fly this balloon over sensitive sites, one of which was just mentioned to collect information," the official reportedly said, adding that it's not the first time that a balloon "of this nature" has been over the U.S.
During a press briefing Friday, Ryder said that the surveillance balloon has moved to the central part of the country, but declined to get into specifics about its location. He said the North American Aerospace Defense Command is closely monitoring the balloon.
"The balloon continues to move eastward and is currently over the center of the continental United States," Ryder said. "Again, we currently assess that the balloon does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground at this time."
Ryder added: "It'll probably be over the United States for a few days." The balloon is currently flying about 60,000 feet above sea level, higher than civilian aircraft fly. "The public certainly has the ability to look up in the sky and see where the balloon is," he said, when pressed about when the public should expect answers on what's on the balloon.
The National Weather Service in Kansas City, Missouri, posted photos of a large balloon visible from their office in Pleasant Hill and the KC Metro that appeared to be headed southeast. "We have confirmed that it is not an NWS weather balloon," NWS Kansas City said.
A spokesperson for China's foreign ministry claimed the balloon was a civilian weather aircraft that was knocked off course, but U.S. officials dispute this claim.
The balloon's discovery also comes as the U.S. and Philippines agreed to increase its military presence within the islands amid escalating tensions between China and Taiwan. U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was visiting Camp Navarro, which is around 2,000 miles from China.
Senior State Department officials reportedly said Friday that China has violated U.S. sovereignty with this surveillance balloon. The balloon’s discovery was announced just days before Secretary of State Antony Blinken was set to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, a meeting that has now been scrapped.
Meanwhile Biden has been dodging questions about the crisis in his public appearances, raising concerns over his senility and his seeming inability to make clear decisions.
Opposition Republican leaders have called out Biden's dithering and weak leadership over the discovery of the surveillance balloon.
"China’s brazen disregard for U.S. sovereignty is a destabilizing action that must be addressed, and President Biden cannot be silent," House Speaker Kevin McCarthy tweeted. "I am requesting a Gang of Eight briefing."
Senator Bill Hagerty(R-Tennessee) similarly called for a strong response from the Biden administration. "Communist China hypocritically lectures the U.S. about respect for sovereignty & territorial integrity," he tweeted. "If it's true that China is behind this loitering high-altitude provocation over our homeland, the Biden Admin must respond strongly & decisively."
Senator Ted Cruz(R-Texas) on Friday, tweeted: "Everything about the Biden admin's response to the Chinese spy balloon reeks of indecision and weakness. They can't decide whether to shoot it down or not. They can't decide whether to go to China or not. China has been spying on us pervasively. They also commit genocide, use slave labor, and threaten us and our allies. Staggering to think a balloon changes everything for Team Biden."
WATCH clips of the Chinese spy balloon as captured by observers