US Use of Military Power Against China's Civil Balloon Excessive- Chinese Defense Ministry

BEIJING (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th February, 2023) The use of military power by the United States against a Chinese civil unmanned balloon is an excessive reaction and Beijing reserves the right to take further necessary action, the Chinese Defense Ministry said on Sunday.

The US announced the detection of an alleged surveillance balloon from China on Thursday and subsequently brought it down on Saturday afternoon in its territorial waters off the coast of South Carolina. Beijing claims the balloon was a civilian airship engaged in scientific research.

"The US used military force to attack our civilian balloon, which is clearly an overreaction," the ministry said in a statement on WeChat.

The Chinese Defense Ministry expressed a strong protest over the shooting down of the Chinese balloon by a US fighter aircraft and stressed that China reserves the right to take further necessary action.