The US Coast Guard imposed a temporary security zone in waters off South Carolina on Monday while the military searched for and recovered debris from a suspected Chinese spy balloon shot down by a US fighter jet.
The White House said the balloon’s flight over the US had done nothing to improve already strained relations with China, and its national security spokesman dismissed Beijing’s claim that the balloon was for meteorological purposes as stretching credibility.
Beijing condemned the shooting down of the balloon and urged Washington to exercise restraint in the aftermath of the incident. ‘Nobody wants to see conflict here,’ White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
Because of the balloon’s flight into US airspace last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken cancelled a planned visit to China on February 5-6. On Saturday, it was shot down off the coast of North Carolina.
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