The Chinese spy balloon was shot down with "success".
This was stated by the president of the United States, Joe Biden, underlining that he ordered the operation on Wednesday, but that he waited until a safe place was reached.
The US believes the spy balloon was monitoring military sites.
This was stated by an American Defense official, underlining that the spy balloon was shot down by an air-to-air missile launched by an F-22 fighter.
Operations are underway to recover the downed Chinese spy balloon.
This was stated by an American defense official, underlining that all the debris that has intelligence value will be recovered.
The United States has not warned China about plans to shoot down the spy balloon.
The Bloomberg agency reports it, citing some sources.
The remains of the downed Chinese spy balloon will be analyzed in the FBI laboratory at Quantico.
The American media report it.
There have been three instances during the Trump administration in which China briefly flew over the continental United States in a surveillance balloon, a senior US defense official told CNN.
The People's Republic of China government's "surveillance balloons transited the continental United States briefly at least three times during the previous administration and once we know of early in this administration, but never for a period of time like this," he explained. Mark Esper, former defense secretary under the former US president.
The remains of the Chinese spy balloon will be taken to an FBI laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, to be analyzed by experts from US intelligence agencies, according to sources familiar with the dossier.
CNN writes it.
Several US Navy and Coast Guard vessels are in the area where the balloon fell and are protecting the perimeter, a senior US military official said.
According to which the Navy had anticipated having to recover the debris in deep water, but the remains are just over 14 meters away, so recovery will be "easy enough".
The official added that "Navy divers" would take to the water if needed to assist in the operation.
There are also "
SPY BALLOON USED TO SURVEILL STRATEGIC SITES
The spy balloon was used by China in an attempt to guard strategic sites in the United States.
Defense Minister Lloyd Austin said it underlining that it was shot down in response to an "unacceptable violation" of American sovereignty.
The spy balloon was shot down in American waters, Austin says, explaining that President Biden last Wednesday "gave his authorization" to shoot it down when the mission could be carried out without unnecessary risk to the population.
"After careful analysis it was determined that shooting it down while it was flying over territory would pose an unnecessary risk. In line with the President's guidance, the Department of Defense has developed options to shoot it down safely in our territorial waters,"
Immediately beforehand, the Federal Administration Aviation, the American aviation authority, had announced the closure of three airports and part of the airspace of North and South Carolina for "national security initiatives".
The Department of Defense had in fact advised Biden not to shoot it down while it was flying over the United States because it would have represented a risk to the population precisely because of the debris.
He thus risks heating up the already tense climate with Beijing which has tried to tone it down, not without repeating the accusations, to defuse a case that risks creating new problems for Xi Jinping's leadership.
While clarifying that China "will not accept unfounded conjectures" and inviting the Americans "not to defame it",
he had tried to restore calm despite the fact that a new spy balloon also popped up today in the South American skies.
"We are receiving reports of one in transit in Latin America - said Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder - and we are evaluating whether it is Chinese surveillance".
China: 'Checks in progress but avoid clamor over spy balloon'
Wang Yi, the powerful head of Chinese diplomacy, is back on the matter that has already blew up - because "the conditions no longer exist" - the mission to Beijing of Secretary of State Antony Blinken: the parties "must remain concentrated, communicate in timely manner, avoid misjudgments, and handle differences in the face of unexpected situations in a cool and professional manner," the Foreign Ministry said on paper, reporting the Mandarin version of the Wang-Blinken talks.
As a responsible country, "China strictly adheres to international law. We do not accept any unfounded speculation or propaganda," added Wang, promoted just over a month ago from foreign minister to head of CCP diplomacy.
With another statement,
the same ministry reaffirmed that the offending balloon is for civilian use for weather research and flatly accused the US media and politicians who "have taken advantage" and used "the incident as a pretext to attack and defame China".
As for Blinken, "neither of the two parties has ever announced that there would be a visit. It is a matter of the United States to have made their last announcement (on the postponement of the visit, ed) and we respect it".
Blinken was expected to travel to Beijing this weekend for talks on a wide range of issues including security, Taiwan, Covid and prepare a new Biden-Xi face-to-face after the November 2022 one at the G20 in Bali.
The same rumors that it could be received from Xi were indicative of the weight given to the mission by the communist leadership.
The last US secretary of state in Beijing was Mike Pompeo in 2018 and he was snubbed by the Chinese president.
Apart from some piqued tones (as a reaction to having had to express "regret" on Friday about the intrusion "due to force majeure" without resolving the situation), the feeling is that Beijing was waiting for Blinken for various reasons.
At this stage, Xi needs the US and the West to revive the economy to the point of having reopened China after three years of obsessive 'zero tolerance' policy on Covid, suddenly interrupted last December.
The IMF, in the annual report on the Dragon released on Friday,
US, Chinese spy balloon flies over base with nuclear missiles in Montana
A direct engagement with Washington is a priority: self-isolation against the pandemic has weighed on international relations, as Xi was able to verify in Bali.
US activism, meanwhile, has led to strengthening the containment of Chinese ambitions among the five new bases in the Philippines that can be used by the US military (useful in the event of Chinese aggression against Taiwan), the recovery of influence between islands in the South Pacific and the squeeze, with Holland and Japan, on exports to China of machinery to produce the precious microchips.
Even a photo opportunity with Blinken would have served Xi to convey the message of a return to normality, to oppose outgoing capital and the push for economic decoupling.
