However, the administration is still dealing with the ongoing fallout after downing the Chinese balloon, which Beijing insists was just an errant civilian airship.
According to the Pentagon, the suspected surveillance device drifted into US airspace north of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands on January 28 and loitered over sensitive areas of Montana where nuclear warheads are siloed.
It was equipped to detect and collect intelligence signals as part of a huge, military-linked aerial surveillance programme that targeted more than 40 countries, the Biden administration declared on Thursday, citing imagery from American U-2 spy planes.
In a statement after the craft was shot down, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said destruction of the craft was “an obvious overreaction and a serious violation of international practice”, adding: ”China will resolutely uphold the relevant company’s legitimate rights and interests.”
