The U.S. Coast Guard has imposed a temporary security zone in waters off South Carolina during the military’s search and recovery of debris from a suspected Chinese spy balloon that a U.S. fighter jet shot down
The White House said the balloon’s flight over the United States had done nothing to improve already tense relations with China.
Beijing condemned the shooting down of the balloon and urged Washington to show restraint over the episode. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters: “Nobody wants to see conflict here.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed a planned February 5-6 visit to China because of the balloon’s flight into U.S. airspace last week.
It was shot down off the Atlantic Coast on Saturday.
The trip to Beijing would have been the first by a U.S. secretary of state since 2018 as the United States and China have sought to mend ties that have been under severe strain over a range of disagreements, including U.S. attempts to block Chinese access to some cutting-edge technologies.
