U.S. closes airspace over Carolina coast, mulls downing suspected spy balloon

The Biden administration is considering a plan to shoot down a large Chinese balloon suspected of monitoring the US military by lowering it once it is above the Atlantic Ocean where the remains can be recovered, according to four US officials.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive operation, said it was unclear whether the final decision had been made by US President Joe Biden.

In brief comments Saturday in response to reporters’ questions about the balloon, Biden said: “We’ll take care of it.”

The balloon was spotted early Friday morning over the Carolinas as it approached the Atlantic coast. In preparation for the potential operation, the US Federal Aviation Administration closed airspace along the Carolina coast, including airports in Charleston and Myrtle Beach, SC, and Wilmington, NC, until at least 2:45 PM ET Saturday.

Biden had been inclined to drop the balloon on land when he was first briefed on it on Tuesday, but Pentagon officials advised him against it, warning that the potential risk to people on the ground exceeded Chinese intelligence’s assessment of potential.

China rolls down trip cancellations

The balloon disclosure this week led to the cancellation of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Beijing scheduled for Sunday for talks aimed at easing US-China tensions.

The Chinese government on Saturday sought to downplay the cancellation.

“Actually, the U.S. and China have never announced any visit, the U.S. making the announcement is its own business, and we respect it,” China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Saturday morning.

China continues to claim that the balloons are simply weather research “airships” that have been jettisoned. The Pentagon denies that is out of hand – as well as China’s claim that it is not used for surveillance and has only limited navigational capabilities.

The balloon was spotted over Montana, which is home to one of America’s three nuclear missile silo fields at Malmstrom Air Force Base.

Meanwhile, people with binoculars and telephoto lenses tried to spot the “spy balloon” in the sky as it headed southeast over Kansas and Missouri at an altitude of 18,300 meters.

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

“We are now determining that it is another Chinese surveillance balloon,” said US Brig. General Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement.

China’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to questions about the second balloon.

Blinken, who was due to leave Washington for Beijing last Friday, said he told senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi on the phone that sending balloons to the US was “an irresponsible act and (China’s) decision to take such action on the night of my visit was devastating.” prepared substantive discussion.”

A joke for some

The uncensored reaction on the Chinese internet reflects the official attitude of the government that the US considers the situation. Many users made jokes about the balloons.

Some say that because the U.S. has limited the technology China can buy to hurt China’s tech industry, it can’t control the balloon.

Others call it a “travel balloon” somewhere that refers to a recently released Chinese sci-fi movie. Wandering Earth 2.

As a sign of censorship on the topic, the hashtag “travel balloon” on Weibo was no longer searchable as of Saturday afternoon.

Still others used it as an opportunity to poke fun at the US defense, saying it couldn’t defend the balloon, and nationalist influence jumped to use the news to mock the US.

“The U.S. considers this a national security threat posed by China to the U.S. This type of military threat, in fact, we have not done this. And compared to the U.S. military threats that are usually directed at us, you can say only surveillance aircraft, submarines, naval vessels the sea is all near our border,” Chinese military expert Chen Haoyang of the Taihe Institute said on Phoenix TV, one of the main national TV outlets.

The rejection continued

China has denied any claims of spying and says it is a civilian balloon-use for meteorological research.

On Saturday, China’s Foreign Ministry reiterated that the balloon’s journey was out of control and urged the US not to “smear” it based on the balloon.

Wang said that China “has always strictly followed international law, we do not accept any groundless speculation and hype. Faced with unexpected situations, both sides must remain calm, communicate in a timely manner, avoid misjudgments and manage differences.”

Alfred Wu, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore, said China’s apology did not seem sincere.

“Meanwhile, relations will not improve in the near future … a big gap.”