China: Shooting Down Spy Balloon an ‘Obvious Overreaction’; We May Shoot Down U.S. Aircraft

The Chinese Defense Ministry loudly protested America’s decision to shoot down a Chinese alleged espionage aircraft over the waters of South Carolina, claiming that taking action to stop the breach of U.S. airspace after the balloon had crossed the entire continental United States and Alaska was an “obvious overreaction.”

The Chinese Defense Ministry suggested it could take reciprocal action against American civilian aircraft, without elaborating.

News began rapidly spreading across social media on Friday of a bizarre, round flying object appearing over the skies of Montana, forcing the administration of leftist President Joe Biden, who has a long history of business ties to China, to announce it had detected an unauthorized Chinese-origin balloon over American land. The Chinese government soon thereafter confirmed – after initially denying any information – that the balloon indeed originated in China, but claimed it had deviated out of the country and into America as a result of force majeure.

Subsequent reports following Friday’s revelation that the Chinese alleged spy balloon had entered America through Alaska and likely traveled down western Canada indicated the Pentagon was “well aware” of its existence as early as January 28, but chose not to comment on it publicly. Social media images of the balloon and public concern reportedly forced a public explanation of the situation.

The Chinese government claimed the balloon was a “meteorological” research vessel for “civilian” purposes that had accidentally left Chinese airspace. The Pentagon initially refused to shoot it down, citing the potential that debris would fall on the grounds and injure Americans, and readied the public for the balloon to “be over the United States for a few days” as of Friday. By Sunday, however, in response to widespread public outrage in America, the Department of Defense confirmed that it had used fighter aircraft to shoot it down.

By the time Biden moved to shoot the balloon and its sophisticated surveillance technology out of American skies, it had crossed from Montana into the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The Pentagon confirmed the balloon had been destroyed on Saturday.

The Communist Party of China, which started the crisis by violating the sovereignty of the United States, expressed outrage and disgust on Sunday at the Pentagon for taking action, albeit belatedly, on the invading aircraft – and threatened to potentially shoot American civilian aircraft out of the sky.


Chinese spy balloon with inset of Xi Jiping (Screenshot, Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images)

“The U.S. attack on Chinese civilian unmanned airship by force is an obvious overreaction,” Senior Colonel Tan Kefei, a Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman, said on Sunday. Tan reportedly called the shootdown a “political show.”

The Chinese state propaganda outlet Global Times, which reported Tan’s remarks, noted that he also warned that “China will reserve the right to take necessary measures in dealing with similar situations” and interpreted that to mean that Beijing would consider shooting down American civilian aircraft. The state newspaper also specifically objected to...

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