China accuses US of indiscriminate use of force over balloon

China accused the United States of indiscriminate use of force Monday after two US Air Force fighter jets shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the Carolina coast — saying the response dealt a “serious blow” to relations between the two countries.

Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng placed a formal complaint with the American Embassy over the “US attack on a Chinese civilian unmanned airship by military force.”

“What the US has done has dealt a serious blow and damaged the efforts and advances in stabilizing China-US relations since the Bali meeting,” he added, referring to President Biden’s summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in November.  

He insisted the “indiscriminate use of military force” against a “civilian unmanned airship” had “seriously violated the spirit of international law and international conventions.”

Repeating claims from the Chinese government, Xie insisted the balloon was an unmanned airship that wasn’t supposed to blow into US airspace, calling it “an accidental incident caused by force majeure.” 

Xie said that China would “resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies, resolutely safeguard China’s interests and dignity and reserve the right to make further necessary responses.”

Biden issued the shootdown order after he was advised that the best time for the operation would be when it was over the water to limit the risk to civilians and infrastructure.

The balloon was shot down by an F22 fighter jet over Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on Saturday and landed in just 47 feet of water, making it a relatively simple recovery, US officials said. 

On Sunday, Navy divers were seen performing the “fairly easy” task of recovering remnant pieces of the balloon from the Atlantic. Video shared online shows military officials off of the Johnny Causy Landing in the North Myrtle Beach area utilizing recovery ships to scoop up the debris, which is spread across about 7 miles of shoreline. 

Recovered debris will be brought to both intelligence officials and law-enforcement agencies for investigation.

News of the balloon over US skies prompted US Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week to cancel a trip to Beijing that was intended to rehabilitate the impaired relationship. 

With Post wires