The United States says it has shot down what it calls a Chinese spy balloon that had been flying across America in the past week.
The U-S military said its fighter jets downed the balloon with a missile when it floated off the southeastern coast. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the balloon was being used by China to surveil strategic sites in the continental United States. China’s foreign ministry expressed strong dissatisfaction, saying it was opposed to use of force to attack its airship. Beijing had previously said that the balloon was for civilian meteorological purposes, and that it had strayed into U-S airspace. The incident brought a new low to already tense relations between the two sides. U-S Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed his visit to China over the incident.