China’s foreign ministry has said that the US decision to shoot down the balloon has “severely affected and damaged” the relationship between the two countries.
According to the French news agency AFP, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Monday that Vice Foreign Minister Xi Feng complained that the actions of the United States since the Bali meeting to strengthen the relationship between China and the United States. I have seriously undermined and undermined the efforts and progress of both parties.’
He was referring to the November summit between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping.
“Beijing is paying close attention to the development of the situation and reserves the right to make further necessary reactions,” the statement added.
Earlier, China had expressed its displeasure over the shooting down of the alleged spy balloon, saying that the US had violated international procedures by reacting strongly.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Sunday that “China has expressed strong disbelief and protested against the use of force by the United States against an unmanned civilian aircraft.”
It should be noted that on Saturday, the United States shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon near the coast of the state of Carolina.
According to American media, the suspected spy balloon was flying at an altitude of about 60,000 feet and was the size of three school buses.
On Saturday morning, the balloon was spotted over the Carolinas from where it entered the Atlantic Ocean.
When US President Joe Biden was briefed on the matter on Tuesday, he intended to drop it on land, but the Pentagon said otherwise.
The Pentagon argued that the move could potentially harm the population.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blanken canceled his visit to Beijing this week after the suspicious balloon came to light in an effort to ease tensions between the US and China.
However, the Chinese government has expressed a slightly different position regarding the cancellation of the visit on Saturday.
“In fact, China and the US have not announced any such visit,” China’s foreign ministry said in a statement. Any such announcement by the US is a unilateral move and we respect it.
