Former US President Donald Trump commented today, Friday, on the Chinese airship’s entry into American airspace, saying: “Down down the Chinese balloon immediately.”
In a post on TruthSocial, Trump called for the immediate downing of the Chinese spy balloon.
For its part, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in an official statement, “The airship is from China, and it is a civilian airship used for research purposes, especially for meteorological purposes.
And it added in the statement published on its website, that “as a result of the balloon being affected by prevailing winds from west towards east, and with limited self-guiding ability, it deviated away from its planned path.”
Mao Ning’s response comes hours after the Pentagon confirmed that it was tracking a Chinese spy balloon flying high over the United States.
According to US media reports, a senior defense official told reporters that, at the request of US President Joe Biden, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and senior military officials discussed options to deal with the balloon, including blowing it up and shooting it down.