U.S. defense officials are working to recover the wreckage of a Chinese balloon downed near South Carolina, as relations between the two countries are further strained.
President Biden speaks to reporters after arriving in Hagerstown, Md., on Saturday. He congratulated the aviators who took down the Chinese balloon.Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
China said the balloon was a meteorological research vessel blown off course and expressed"strong dissatisfaction and protest" over its downing. Authorities said they may use uncrewed underwater vessels that can lift the structure up to the surface and place it on a salvage ship. Navy divers were also available. The debris splashed down in 47-foot-deep water, making the recovery effort easier than had been originally expected.
that it would be possible for a high-altitude balloon launched from China to reach the U.S., but added that China may not have had much control over its path at such high altitudes.Diplomacy between the U.S. and China is again up in the air "China has an interest in inserting some more stability into the relationship," Dave Shullman, senior director of the China Global Hub at the Atlantic Council,Shullman said China is hoping to repair its relationship with the U.S. as it struggles with some thorny domestic issues, such as its ongoing efforts to stem the spread of COVID and invigorate its economy.
"This was deliberate. They did this on purpose," Rubio said."The message they were trying to send is what they believe internally, and that is that the United States is a once-great superpower that's hollowed-out, that's in decline."
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