China accuses US of indiscriminate use of force for shooting down surveillance balloon that invaded US airspace for days

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China accuses US of indiscriminate use of force for shooting down surveillance balloon that invaded US airspace for days

The Chinese government on Monday February 6, accused the United States of indiscriminate use of force when the American military shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon on Saturday, saying that had ?seriously impacted and damaged both sides? efforts and progress in stabilizing Chinese-U.S. relations.?

The U.S. shot down a balloon off the Carolina coast after it crossed sensitive military sites across North America. China insisted the flyover was an accident involving a civilian aircraft and was not for civilian purposes but US denied the assertion saying the balloon was maneuverable with propellers.

The Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng said he lodged a formal complaint with the U.S. Embassy on Sunday over the ?U.S. attack on a Chinese civilian unmanned airship by military force.?

?However, the United States turned a deaf ear and insisted on indiscriminate use of force against the civilian airship that was about to leave the United States airspace, which obviously overreacted and seriously violated the spirit of international law and international practice,? Xie said.

The presence of the balloon in the skies above the U.S. dealt a severe blow to already strained U.S.-Chinese relations that have been in a downward spiral for years. It prompted Secretary of State Antony Blinken to abruptly cancel a high-stakes Beijing trip aimed at easing tensions.

Xie repeated China?s insistence that the balloon was a Chinese civil unmanned airship that blew into U.S. mistake, calling it ?an accidental incident caused by force majeure.?