President says some objects shot down were most likely launched by private companies
The downing of the Chinese surveillance craft was the first known peacetime shooting down of an unauthorised object in US airspace – a feat repeated three times a week later.
Mr Biden criticised China’s surveillance programme, saying the “violation of our sovereignty is unacceptable”, but said he looked to maintain open lines of communication with Beijing.his first planned trip to China as the balloon was flying over the US, and a new meeting with his Chinese counterpart has yet to be scheduled.
“I expect to be speaking with president Xi and I hope we can get to the bottom of this,” Mr Biden said, adding: “But I make no apologies for taking down that balloon.”Mr Biden said the rules would remain classified so as not to “give a roadmap to our enemies to try to evade our defences”.
Still unaddressed are questions about the original balloon, including what spying capabilities it had and whether it was transmitting signals as it flew over sensitive military sites in the US. – AP
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