The US Navy has released photos of its recovery of the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that was shot out of the sky.
The US Fleet Forces Command posted photos to its social media on Tuesday (local time), showing debris from the balloon being dragged into a boat off South Carolina.
Tweet from @USFleetForces
It said the crew retrieving the debris from the ocean on Sunday were part of a US Navy specialist explosives team.
The device will be examined to see whether it was indeed spy equipment.
The discovery came after the US Coast Guard imposed a temporary security zone in waters off South Carolina as the military searched for debris from the suspected Chinese spy balloon, which was shot down by a US fighter jet on Saturday.
US officials said the balloon was about 60 metres tall, with a payload portion similar to that of mid-sized planes.
US President Joe Biden said it was always his view that the balloon needed to be shot down, and brushed off a question about whether the incident would weaken US-China relations.
“No. We made it clear to China what we’re going to do,” he said on Monday.
“They understand our position. We’re not going to back off. We did the right thing and it’s not a question of weakening or strengthening – it’s reality.”
China has repeatedly insisted the “airship is for civilian use and entered the US due to force majeure – it was completely an accident”.
Under international law, force majeure refers to an irresistible force or unforeseen event beyond the control of a state, making it materially impossible to fulfil an international obligation.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said the balloon’s flight over the US had done nothing to improve already tense relations with China and dismissed Beijing’s claims.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre nevertheless said the US approach to relations with China would remain calm and it was up to China to decide whether it wanted to build on a meeting between Mr Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping last November.
“It’s up to China to figure out what kind of relationship they want,” she said.
The appearance of the Chinese balloon caused a political uproar in the US and prompted the top US diplomat, Antony Blinken, to cancel a February 5-6 trip to Beijing that both countries had hoped would steady their rocky relations.
Beijing condemned the shooting down of the balloon as an “obvious overreaction” and urged Washington to show restraint.
“China firmly opposes and strongly protests against this,” Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng said in remarks to the US Embassy in Beijing posted on the ministry’s website.
While urging US restraint, China has also warned of “serious repercussions” and said it would use the necessary means to deal with “similar situations”, without elaborating.
Some policy analysts said they expect any response to be finely calibrated, however, to prevent diplomatic ties becoming even worse.
Some US Republicans have questioned why the balloon was not shot down before it was allowed to travel across the US.
Scroll through the panels below for a timeline of the saga:
Mr Biden asked for military options last Tuesday, according to US officials. Pentagon officials said the risks were too great to shoot it down over land.
“Once it came over the United States from Canada, I told the Defence Department I wanted to shoot it down as soon as it was appropriate,” Mr Biden said.
“They concluded … we should not shoot it down over land. It was not a serious threat and we should wait until it got across the water.”
The balloon passed into US airspace north of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands on January 28, and was downed off the US Atlantic Coast on Saturday – a week later.
US officials have played down the balloon’s impact on national security, but said its successful recovery could give the US insight into China’s spying capabilities.
Mr Kirby said US was able to study the balloon while it was aloft and officials hope to glean valuable intelligence on its operations by retrieving as many components as possible.
Senior US officials have offered to brief former Trump administration officials on the details of what the White House said were three China balloon overflights when Donald Trump was president.
US officials said those balloons came to light after Mr Trump left office in January 2021.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said China learned its balloon had drifted over the United States after being notified by Washington.
-with AAP
