US military fighter aircraft shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon as it floated off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday, drawing to a close a dramatic saga that shone a spotlight on worsening Sino-US relations.
"We successfully took it down, and I want to compliment our aviators who did it," President Joe Biden said.
The balloon was shot down about six nautical miles off the US coast, over relatively shallow water, potentially aiding efforts to recover key elements of the Chinese surveillance equipment among the debris in the coming days, officials said. "Our assessment — and we're going to learn more as we pick up the debris — was that it was not likely to provide significant additive value over and above other intel capability, such as satellites in low-Earth orbit," the senior US defense official said.
The US military did not immediately recover the payload from the Chinese surveillance balloon, US officials said. China expressed regret that an "airship" used for civilian meteorological and other scientific purposes had strayed into US airspace. "Over the past several years, Chinese balloons have previously been spotted over countries across five continents, including in East Asia, South Asia and Europe," the senior defense official said.
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