This Saturday the U.S. military finally took action and shot down the Chinese spy balloon as it positioned itself over the Atlantic Ocean off the east coast of the country. After countless criticisms of President Joe Biden for having allowed the flying object to fly for so long over U.S. territory, the president finally decided to approve shooting down the balloon and now the government is focusing on recovering the balloon and its debris.
"They successfully took it down and I want to complement our aviators who did it" the president reported.
The Chinese Spy Ballon has been eliminated. Shot down by fighter jets off the Carolina coast. pic.twitter.com/FunhGnePxQ
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) February 4, 2023
According to AP media, military fighter jets shot down the white balloon, but not before certain measures were taken. The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop for all airports in South Carolina. The Armed Forces also chose to restrict airspace near the area and the Coast Guard advised sailors to leave the area.
Should it have been taken down earlier?
According to Biden, the balloon remained in the air until he found a safe time to shoot it down, a decision he made following recommendations made to him by defense officials. However, while this was going on, the flying object was able to continue to collect information from the country.
I’m very concerned that we didn’t respond with great speed and great force.
US fighter Jet missile finally shoots down Chinese spy balloon. 💭 pic.twitter.com/8bS7rokUjc
— Scherie Murray (@ScherieMurray) February 4, 2023
Chang, author of The Coming Collapse of China, stated that the explanation given by the president for not shooting down the balloon was "silly" for several reasons, starting with the fact that not taking immediate action sent a message to the Chinese that America is "incapable" of defending ourselves, "whether we want to protect the cows on the ground or we don't want to offend the Chinese."
"We have created the conditions for war. That's not to say that we're the aggressor, but it is to say that we're allowing China to become an aggressor," he said highlighting that the balloon should have been shot down immediately and sanctioned by shutting down Chinese companies in the United States.
The Chinese spy balloon was in US airspace for a week. It hovered over nuclear silos and Air Force Bases. In addition to intel gathering China was testing Biden on response time, decision making & he failed miserably
Full investigation needed. The American people deserve answers
— Eric Schmitt (@Eric_Schmitt) February 4, 2023
"There are costs for violating our sovereignty and committing acts of war against the United States of America," he stressed.
Donald Trump himself had to publicly demand that the spy object be taken down and accused Biden of being "weak on China."
