The balloon is for scientific purposes only, the embassy said. He deviated from his originally planned route because of the weather conditions and lack of controllability. After the incident with the first balloon over the USA, the Foreign Ministry in Beijing had already admitted the day before that a second “civilian” balloon had gone astray during a “flight attempt” and was flying over Latin America.
It is unclear whether the object now sighted over Costa Rica is the same balloon that was reported by Colombia on Friday. So far, China has emphasized that these are just two research balloons that have gone astray. On Saturday, the US military shot down a Chinese observation balloon that had been observed in US airspace for days off the coast of the US state of South Carolina over the Atlantic.
White House: Airspace Defended
According to the White House, the USA acted in accordance with international law and only defended the airspace and the country by launching the balloon. From the US side, the accusation that it was a spy balloon was recently substantiated.
According to the National Security Council’s communications director, John Kirby, measures were already being taken during the balloon’s overflight over the United States to limit its espionage capabilities. According to Kirby, the US also has “intelligence information” from the balloon: “We are still analyzing the information we were able to glean from the balloon before we launched it.”
Biden defended course of action
The overflight of the balloon over the United States had caused a stir, outrage and new tensions between Washington and Beijing in the past few days. US President Joe Biden finally had the balloon shot down by a warplane over the Atlantic on the US east coast on Saturday when the balloon was no longer over the mainland. The rubble is now being salvaged.
Biden also defended the procedure again on Monday – and at the same time rejected allegations made by Republicans in particular that the shooting took place too late. “The moment he came to the United States from Canada, I told the Department of Defense that I wanted him shot down as soon as it was appropriate,” Biden said.
“overreaction”
Beijing criticized the approach as an “obvious overreaction”. Washington accused China of wanting to use the balloon to spy on military installations. Beijing, on the other hand, spoke of a civilian research balloon that was far off course due to the westerly wind drift and insufficient navigation options.
While criticism of the US continued unabated in China, the US government wants to avoid escalating tensions between the two countries. “There is no reason for the tensions in our bilateral relationship to escalate into some sort of conflict,” Kirby said.
China trip burst from Blinken
After the balloon appeared, Foreign Minister Antony Blinken canceled his trip to Beijing. It would have been the first visit by a US Secretary of State to China in more than four years. Both sides had previously indicated their interest in stabilizing the ailing relationship with Blinken’s talks in Beijing.
“Spotlight on US incompetence”
China is now portraying itself as a victim of the domestic political infighting in the US. The launch did not end the balloon affair, as US politicians continued their rhetoric of a “Chinese threat” and fueled political strife between Republicans and Democrats, regardless of the impact on relations with China, lamented the Global Times, published by the party organ People’s Daily.
“Turning a force majeure accident into a farce highlights US incompetence in dealing with a crisis,” commented the paper, which is also used as an English-language propaganda tool.
Earlier, Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng said the US had “seriously hampered and damaged” efforts and progress made by both sides to stabilize ties since Chinese leaders Xi Jinping and Biden met in November. Xie is touted as the new Chinese ambassador to Washington.
Return of debris excluded
After the balloon was shot down over the USA, the debris is being salvaged off the coast of South Carolina. Further details about the flying object were announced on Monday. The balloon was about 200 feet tall and probably weighed as much as a small airliner, said US Northern Command commander Glen VanHerck.
The debris field has an approximate size of 1,500 by 1,500 meters, said VanHerck. Due to the swell, the work under water was initially made more difficult. The operation takes place at a depth of around 15 meters.
The investigators want to recover as much as possible – also to evaluate the devices on board. According to information from the White House, a return of the rubble to Beijing is not planned, says Kirby: “I know of no intention and no plans to return it.”
“Doesn’t belong to the US”
The government in Beijing will uphold the legitimate interests and rights of the Chinese side, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said on Tuesday: “The airship does not belong to the United States.”
