the Chinese balloon shot down on the orders of Joe Biden – RT in French
The balloon, which had been flying over the United States for several days, was finally shot down by the American army over the Atlantic. A “spy” balloon accuses Washington, which has postponed the visit to Beijing of the head of its diplomacy.
It was a small spot in the sky, but far too big for the pride of the first military power. On February 4, a US Air Force aircraft shot down the balloon which had been flying over United States territory for several days. A “spy” aircraft immediately assured Washington, pointing the finger at China.
VIDEO of Chinese Balloon Shot Down (@CNN) — President Biden just said “I told them to shoot it down on Wednesday… They (DOD) said to me, let’s wait for the safest place to do it.” pic.twitter.com/TEgTorSlOq
—Mike Valerio (@ValerioCNN) February 4, 2023
On videos broadcast by television channels, the ball seemed to fall vertically. Shortly before, air traffic had been suspended at three airports of the southeastern United States as a “national security” measure, announced the American civil aviation regulator (FAA). It was one airport in North Carolina and two in South Carolina.
An order given three days ago
“I ordered the Pentagon to shoot him down on Wednesday as soon as possibleJoe Biden told reporters this Saturday, February 4, when he got off the plane at Hagerstown airport. In the morning, the American president had declared that the United States would “take care” of this balloon. Then, at the beginning of the afternoon, questioned by journalists who asked him if he was going to give the order to shoot down the balloon, the tenant of the White House had replied by simply giving a thumbs up.
This affair throws an additional chill on the already icy relations between Washington and Beijing, causing the postponement of a visit to China by the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken. Beijing acknowledged that it was indeed a device from China, but assured that it was a “civilian aircraft, used for research purposes, mainly meteorological”. The machine would have “deviated from its trajectory”, added a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, expressing the “regrets” of his country for this “involuntary” violation of American airspace.
RT
